warhammer conquest
by undead3
Summary: when a small planet one the eastern fringe is discovered to contain an unknown cult which worships an egnamatic leader named kane, and a chaotic green crystal the imperium is dragged into a war against an new enemy, and one that had existed long ago...
1. discovery

Chapter 1: discovery

"I still don't see how you knew that it was the governor who was behind the heretics actions. You seemed to know at first glance." A lighthearted, male voice called from across the ships chamber.

"Must I always tell you this…logic, knowledge, faith, and resources? It was with knowledge of what he was reciting when we first saw him that I was able to know the origins of where he would have received such 'pious' quotations. it would then have been by logic that I deduced that it was his connection with the cult that he received such seemingly harmless quotations. and it was by faith in the God-emperor that I used all the resources available to me to burn his wretched soul out from the emperors light and cast his whole accursed house into the chaos that they so deserved!" a deep voice lectured logically from the chambers opposite. "But truly I never suspected the actual location of the cult's headquarters. You may make a fine inquisitor one day but until then there is far too much you need to learn."

Inquisitor Titonas Hond leaned forward in his seat aboard the rouge trader ship, allowing his student to see his rough brown colored flesh, black hair, his feared pale white eyes and the telling scar over his right eye. The inquisitor was a slightly aged man, who had always been known to appear near different hubs and get into fights with individuals that he thought he could glean information from. The inquisitor being a weak psycher had found that someone in a physical confrontation was easier to affect.

His only interrogator, Boras brow, was very different. His student appeared soft, with smooth white skin, Boras had been chosen by Titonas because he had been a potent psycher and able to use logic very well, out of Titonas's small group Boras was to only individual with skills that weren't used solely for killing or capturing individuals.

"It is just that I had questioned you, and I am sorry." Boras replied.

"It is understandable, the whole planet had thought that that man was faithful…but then few men ever wish to question their governor's faith." Titonas answered. "now our next destination is quite the task…as you know we are heading to a place called Luxodia 12 an insignificant planet by many measures, at the edge of the empire, contributes little, known to have a few people willing to trade with foul Xenos."

"Yes inquisitor" Boras replied, walking to the doorway of the chamber he stopped before leaving. "You said a source told you of some chaos cult…and a strange 'rock plague'." Boras sighed. "I don't see why you would bring us here, if it is just a plague then we shouldn't waste our time inquisitor, the imperium has far more pressing matters."

This caused the inquisitor to chuckle. "The imperium always has more pressing matters. But the inquisition is meant to route out problems before they become serious threats to our culture, to stop heresy at its source. To burn heretics" Titonus replied.

Borus then turned and bowed to his master. "Goodnight sir."

Titonus then turned and began reading the report from his informant, this was certainly a disturbing report, he'd let his interrogator think differently for now. A crystal that multiplies and seems to be warp spawned, a cult taking control of the planet at the same time as the crystal's appearance, and all of it seemed to focus around a single individual whose name appeared everywhere and in everything concerning the planet.

*****

"Approaching landing site now inquisitor." The shuttle's pilot informed, as his slow ungainly craft descended towards the arranged meeting place.

"Remember Boras, Duran has been my informant for many years, I trust anything he tells me." Titonus reminded his interrogator.

"I know sir, I do not doubt that you choose to investigate this based solely off that fact." Boras replied his face pale, and his voice revealing his terror of flying. To Boras, being in space was one thing, but flying in a tiny craft where there is gravity pulling you down towards a planets surface, that was something to be terrified of.

"Calm down, the pilot the captain donated is a very good one." Titonus coolly ordered his interrogator.

"Sorry sir." Boras replied, his voice still shaking.

"Boy you're _friend _really knows how to pick his meeting places, a novice pilot would say landing here is impossible. The wind gusts are one thing, but the terrain is truly deceptive looks smooth down their but even I am likely to scrape the bottom off this baby." The pilot shouted over his shoulder to his passengers. "Just look at all that green stuff if you're not careful I'd say it might rip this ship apart, good thing, I'm just dropping you off."

Titonus looked at his company, two of his hired muscle Gregor and Stan, very experienced imperial guards men, also he had brought along his astropath Gias. Gias was his own special astropath one who could send messages ease and was likely to last several more years until the messages finally wore him out.

"Alright let me look." Titonus demanded, entering into the cockpit of the craft. Looking out the window Titonus could see a peculiar sight, the fields were definitely corrupted by the presence of a green crystal, one that turned the earth around it a dark color, and had changed the face of the terrain around it, making the ground uneven and Cliffside riddled. A perfect battlefield created by the mere presence of a green crystal, perhaps Duran's assumption that this was a warp spawned stone was not too far fetched. If Titonus had remembered the planets only cotenant was supposed to have rolling hills, not mountains of rough terrain.

Turning to the pilot Titonus gave him a quick order. "Alright swing low and drop us as quickly as possible into the meeting aria, if we need you for emergency pick-up we'll beep the ship twice and then give coordinates, understood?"

"Right, I did my fair share of time shuttling for the imperial guard before joining in the rouge trade." The pilot replied, dropping low and dodging small towers and exploding fissures made of the green crystal.

*****

"We've got it, one small craft." A voice informed over the head set.

"roger." The confessor replied before lowering his mask over his face, causing his view of the world to change. Now the world had a red tint, his allies each were marked out by the red hexagon that symbolized their faith, while a gold circle indicated the targets location.

A soldier walked up to the confessor and placed his hand on the others shoulder. "Are they the ones brother?" he asked eagerly.

The confessor then hit a button on his helmet which allowed him to view in a small box what one of his soldiers was viewing. He could see the craft and make out it's flight pattern. It's pilot was obviously some kind of veteran, however the craft itself was bulky and did not appear very aerodynamic, but then everything created by this 'imperium' seemed large and ungainly. "It's the one we've expected, Duran's final confession was true. Rocket militia to the front, wait until they near the meeting sight then initiate."

The confessor then span around causing his black cape to fly upwards, catching the attention of the red armored solders about him. He then jumped into the Reckoner at the lead of a four transport column. It was time for the trap to proceed. "Contact the tank; scouting duties are over when the time comes knock them out." The confessor ordered one of his soldiers who was by a communications consol.

*****

Titonus looked out of the window again, someone was out there. He knew Duran was supposed to be there but was there someone else?

"Hey what was that?" the pilot asked glancing out the left window quickly.

"What was what?" Titonus asked glancing the same way.

"Better get in the back inquisitor, we're coming up on you're drop point and you said you wanted this to be fast." The pilot then stated.

"wait, I see something…what the hell is that?" the statement from the inquisitor came only moments before a invisible vehicle , one that had 2 treads at the front and a third in the rear with a missile array placed on top, revealed itself and opened fire.

"Shit! Get down!" The pilot yelled dropping the craft inches above the ground.

*****

"idiot." The confessor growled. "Everyone move into attack, order that fool driving the stealth tank to move in behind us, men prepare to disembark, I don't want to risk the reckoners just yet. And order a squad of shadow troopers down here immediately." The confessor then ordered.

"couldn't we just surround them with the reckoners and lay siege to them brother?" one of the red armored soldiers asked. The confessor span delivering a fist into the un-helmeted face of the questioning soldier.

*****

The craft continued for several feet before it actually connected with the ground and skidded to a halt in the middle of a wide ravine.

The pilot quickly un-harnessed and leapt to check on the inquisitor. "sir are you alright?" he asked nervously.

Titonus pulled himself off the cockpit floor and waved off the pilot, then went into the crafts cargo hold to find that his team was doing better than he was.

"Were we just shot down?" the astropath, Gias asked.

"No, but we came close. And it's unlikely that we'll take off again." Titonus replied.

Boras raised his hand while he un-harnessed himself. "They'll likely come searching for us."

"Right, everyone grab a las-rifle and we'll go find a defendable position." With that the group began gathering weapons and left the downed aircraft.

Outside the terrain seemed completely alien, the soil felt corrupted, and the green crystal appeared in large fields growing on the walls and in arias around strange fissures.

"Sir, about ninety paces forward and to the left." Boras suggested, pointing to a raised position of black rock that overlooked their current position with a field of the green crystal below it and the cliff face behind making the easiest approach a direct and open path.

"Good choice." Titonus congratulated his interrogator.

The assent to the position was easy and the small group was able to quickly gather a large amount of supplies at their new position. They then began fortifying and preparing their lines of fire and eventually had a great command of the crash site.

After moments of waiting four vehicles came down the valley and soldiers in strange dark grey armor with red highlights began to file out. The red armor of the soldiers was unlike most armor that Titonus had seen before. The main body armor itself was basic metal body plates covering points likely to be hit, overlaid to allow mobility and protection, while the soldiers' helmets were teardrop shaped, with the faceplates having strange symbols etched in the red visors. However, the more noticeable of the soldiers were ones who wore red jackets with hoods and white cloth coverings over their faces carrying large rocket launcher devices. After the soldiers investigated the crash site finding little trace of the inquisitors group a new figure appeared amongst the group. This one Titonus decided must have been their leader. He wore a black uniform that seemed to have been constructed of superior materials than the others, also his helmet was black with a face mask that held two red colored eye slots. Even his tri-barreled gun identified him from his soldiers.

Boras crawled over to his master. "It looks as though the one in black is their leader."

"Right, we'll pick him off first, and then deal with the rest, it's logical to assume that they are going to be tough but un-disciplined. I'll fire first." Titonus informed his interrogator.

"I'll tell the others master." Boras replied before crawling away.

As Boras crawled, away Titonus pulled out a long-las and began to take aim at the black armored soldier down range. The soldier was definitely the focus of the enemy's organization. Whenever he made a gesture, the others reacted and began to perform one task or another. As one soldier approached the black armored commander, Titonus aimed at the target's head preparing for a perfect shot. However, the black armored one then turned and seemingly looking directly at Titonus, he reacted pointing at the hill and shouting commands. Titonus fired, hoping to quickly kill the leader but one of the soldiers threw himself between Titonus's shot and its intended target.

"damn." Titonus growled as he lowered his long-las and brought out a regular las-rifle. Already the red armored soldiers had begun swarming up the path but fire from the six defenders cut them down quickly.

The red armored heretics quickly abandoned their charge taking cover and attempting to slowly advance. The red coat enemies brought up their rocket launchers aiming towards Titonus's position on the ridge but concentrated fire soon reduced the men to molten slag. The hoard of red armored enemies began to spray with their weapons kicking up soil all around the defenders. Meanwhile the black armored leader stayed back as if waiting for something. Titonus risked a moment away from the action to observe the black armored man, who was now standing aside gesturing at the air.

*****

"I want a burst of eight rockets on that mound now." The confessor demanded of the pilot of the stealth tank. "And where the hell are those shadow troopers?" he then demanded on one of his subordinates.

"They are gliding in behind the target now brother." The nearest militant reported.

"Finally! Now, FOR THE…."

*****

The black armored soldier raised a fist into the air shouting some intangible battle cry. As the enemy leader did so a tank, obviously the one that had shot then down, materialized beside him. Taking careful aim the vehicle opened fire sending a spray of well placed rockets towards the hill.

"Everyone down!" Titonus shouted just before the first rocket made contact.

"oh…oh, gods!" Titonus could hear Gias shout. Titonus quickly advanced to his astropath to investigate.

"What is it?" he quickly demanded of his in-experienced comrade, who in turn pointed to the body of Stan. Stan's body had been thrown upwards and had landed in the green crystals, which had skewered him.

"sh-should we move him?" Gias asked, his voice trembling.

"No, I don't think we want to get close to the green rocks." Titnonus decided, pointing to the bodies of the enemy that had landed in the fields of the green crystal to emphasize his point. Apparently this mineral had the ability to consume other materials and grow like a fungus, the dead bodies that had already been half transformed proved it.

While firing at the enemy Boras approached his master. "It looks as though these crystal fields are proving to be a tactical advantage for us, a bigger one than we thought."

"Yes, however I would never want to come into physical contact with them." Titonus said, pointing to Stan's body which already had growing green points from where it was in contact with the crystals around it. Both Boras and Titonus returned to firing at the enemies advancing up the hill as the tank bellow tried to provide the enemy with covering fire. However, neither side seemed to make any further progress, there were too many militants for the inquisition team to kill and the militants could not advance with the lethal fire from the hill.

While replacing his tenth energy pack Titonus saw Gregor hastily, advance up the hill. "Behind you!" he shouted, while firing several shots at the air behind Boras and Titonus. Titonus sensing danger span around in time to witness one of Gregor's shots connect with the armor of a shadow trooper who then seemed to materialize immediately behind Boras. Three more invisible warriors then materialized in positions behind the defenders. Their body armor looked like a light version of the basic militants while their helmets were more bowl shaped and reminded the inquisitor of some sort of mask. Gregor fired wildly at one striking him in the chest but the remaining two fired miniature autoguns and cut Gregor down before he could continue. The pilot and Gias continued firing down range to keep the enemy at bay while Boras and Titonus leapt up to confront the new attackers. One of the two had two of the miniature autoguns while the other pulled out a rapier sword with one hand while idling his autogun in the other.

"Boras, you handle the duel gunner, I'll handle the swordsman." Titonus instructed his apprentice. While pulling out his own sword, one that he had been given when he first became an inquisitor.

"How'd they get behind us?" Boras asked, completely focused on his target, which had dived behind cover.

"They have gliders built into their armor." Titonus realized, looking at one of the bodies. As he did so the swordsman enemy shouted something in a language Titonus did not recognize and charged. Titonus quickly parried with a powerful sweep. However this opponent was obviously fast and was already pressing the attack with a flurry of strikes. Being slower but more powerful, Titonus could only win if he attacked his opponent. "TO THE WARP WITH YOU!" Titonus shouted, as he parried another strike and then began his own offensive. However just as he began to attack his opponent faded from sight.

*****

Laying down fire on the advancing enemy was an easy enough task. For the pilot Anthony Cheknov it was something the emperor blessed how easy it was to either kill these red armored lunatics who threw themselves forward, or to get them to dive for cover which was the less likely. To the astropath, Gias, pulling the trigger and ending another life seemed difficult. Now though with the strange tank with its rocket launcher, and now that two thirds of the team was either fighting with invisible enemies or dead the task was becoming much harder, every time Anthony stopped to reload the fanatics surged forward, and Gias was just too slow with his gun.

Anthony reloaded once more and threw the cartridge to his side taking aim at the advancing fanatics again. A single crunch-like noise alerted Anthony of the threat behind. Anthony quickly spun around pulling out a handgun and fired by reflex. Anthony fired four rounds closely clustered at the point he figured a man's center to be. After he fired one of the invisible assailants reappeared with three holes in his head and a large dagger in hand. Anthony then grabbed his rifle and continued firing at the advancing fanatics who were now getting very close.

*****

The confessor watched the battle and was becoming more impatient. He was supposed to return with a simple victory over one of the most feared organizations in all of the 'imperium', instead four desperate men were fighting and surviving atop that hill. "bring down one of the reckoners, then load it with our rocket troops at the bottom of the hill. Obeying the confessors commands the militants drove their reckoner to the closest point of the hill they could and had the vehicle deploy turning itself into a firmly grounded bucker. Then several squads of rocket militants entered into the new structure and began to fire towards the defenders, giving significant cover fire for the advancing troops.

*****

Titonus had fought many different swordsmen before, experts, novices, even a traitor marine, but fighting an invisible opponent was so far the most difficult. He could just make out his opponents strikes before they connected allowing him to make sudden dodges and parries, but he had no chance for countering and launching his own attack. Four gunshots sounded close behind Titonus signaling the death of another invisible opponent. "Boras! You got him?" Titonus asked, as he leapt away from his opponent.

"No but he's dead!" Boras replied, just as Titonus ducked below another high strike.

"good, one left!" Titonus called, as a swing from his invisible opponent drew blood from his leg and causing the strange fanatic to call something in the man's unknown tongue.

Boras began to advance searching for a way to attack his masters opponents but stopped when he decided to use his psycher abilities, the thought to use the abilities he was gifted with only now re-occurring to him. "SHOW YOURSELF!" Boras demanded aloud, and after a moments hesitation the invisible soldier became visible, allowing Titonus to thrust his blade into the man's chest.

"Hmm, why didn't I think of that?" Titonus asked aloud, before an explosion reminded both him and Boras of the real battle.

Rushing to the positions that the pilot and Gias had taken the dismal turn of the battle was apparent, one of the enemy APC's had turned itself into a bunker at the bottom of the hill more than doubling the suppressive rocket fire covering the now very swift advance of the enemy.

"If we stay here any longer we're dead!" the pilot shouted over the deafening roar of rockets and explosions.

"Quickly up the cliff side!" Titonus decided and ordered.

"What are you trying to kill us!" the pilot demanded.

"Go!" was all Titonus said, before going to give his order to Gias.

"We're going to die!" the pilot grumbled before lifting himself up to retreat to the cliff.


	2. enemy reveiled

**Chapter 2: enemy revealed. **

"emperor Damn you!" the pilot ,Anthony Cheknov, shouted at Titonus as he climbed the cliff face as quickly as possible, rockets detonating all around and the threat of the cultist infantry getting close enough to fire directly at him being very real.

"Shut up and climb!" Boras yelled back at the pilot as several stray rounds connected with the stone around his head, causing the interrogator to flinch.

"if I live, I swear by the emperor I will…" the pilots curses were cut short as bullets rounds ricocheted off the cliff face around him. Titonus discarded the cursing and the gunfire, instead he focused solely on getting his team to the top of the cliff. Just a little further and they will have escaped the enemy. What he had seen of the local terrain had suggested that their opponents would have to take a long path to reach them, but only if they made it to the top of the cliff.

"Come on Gias you're the one we need to stay alive right now…keep moving." Titonus shouted to his astropath, who was slowly climbing behind him.

"I will survive to do the emperor's work…I will." The astropath huffed as he lifted himself over another edge. Just a few more feet.

*****

The confessor watched in near disbelief. "They are enemies of the prophet. They should not hold his protection." The black armored confessor growled. One of the red armored militants kneeled behind the confessor.

"Brother, are they able to contact their allies?" the simple-minded soldier asked.

The confessor span to face his weak-minded charge. "Yes child you are right, the prophet must have allowed them to escape to test us. However they still pose no threat to the vision so we may relax, now hurry our prey is escaping with our honor!" the confessor decided. "Recall the men, we'll regroup and travel to the local communion. It is the only place the could go, no other soul exists else ware today." The confessor concluded.

*****

"Emperor blessed, we're alive…we're alive." The pilot happily cheered laying on his back at the top of the cliff, now they were effectively out of the enemies range. And because of this the enemy withdrew searching for a new way to reach their elusive target. Titonus did not care though, the fact was that he had been ambushed, that his informant had been captured or was a traitor, and an unknown enemy with resources never before seen by him had attacked.

"We need to get to the nearest town or city, we also have to discard our current clothing, if we do not, we are dead." Titonus declared, already planning what to do to fulfill these goals.

The pilot laughed a little before replying. "You're interrogator just needs to rip off those stupid purity seals and other distinguishing marks on his outfit and he'd blend in with most wanabe hive gangs, who do you think you are anyway that costume is just sad, I'm wearing a basic civilian outfit under my flight suit. Looks like that just leaves you and…the walking corpse here." The pilot pointed out. Titonus wore clothing that quite easily distinguished him as a inquisitor, and while Gias did not wear any distinguishing cloths, he had all the physical characteristics of a long time astropath.

"If I might suggest, Titonus, we should try sending a message to the ship, I believe captain Gorran would not hesitate to send us a transport, and meanwhile I suspect that one or two of the bodies down there would have sufficient clothing to disguise you and Gias." Boras suggested, pointing to the red jacket wearing heretics and also reminding Titonus of the rouge trader he had hired before coming here.

Titonus looked at the pilot. "Does the captain have a spare craft and pilot, the crew seemed fairly small." He asked.

The pilot took a moment to think. "Yea, I think our other carrier got fixed just the other day, damn thing has been having engine trouble as if the warp itself doesn't want it to work."

*****

Watching the whole spectacle Tadench laughed at the irony of the pilot's statement. Tadench had the foresight to reach out and break components of the spare craft's engine, using all his power granted to him by his lords of chaos undivided, fortunately the ships warp shield had cracks in its defense. How long had it been since he had dealt with the pathetic mortals of the imperium? An century at least. Though time was not something, he really needed to worry about. However, his task had been more than difficult here, the warp was becoming more and more like it was at the other world, so bombarded with power that even a deamon could not safely traverse it. Fortunately the other world had trained Tadench to travel through such space though it had been so long since he had actually affected or even entered the material realm, not since before he had first approached that planet.

The next statement and actions of the puny mortals caught Tadench's attention. "I can't contact the ship." The obvious leader named Titonus said.

"Jamming devices?" the cocky pilot asked.

It was then that the interrogator entered carrying a number of shirts, the ones least damaged by the fighting. "I think if we layer these well enough no one will be able to identify us." He said, obviously missing the last conversation.

Tadench leaned back in his non-existing seat as he watched more events unfold.

"Good work, yes they must know about the ship." The leader said again.

Tadench risked a glance to another side of the planet and watched with humor the unfolding events.

"All safety locks removed." A basic soldier with a black uniform with red runes reported, causing his commanding officer to smile as he stuck a key into the firing mechanism of a nuclear silo.

"We do this for…"

"Tadench we're here, Tadench you blasted coward show yourself!"

"Damn those accursed iron warriors! If I did not need them I'd have killed them!" Tadench cursed before accepting the summons and coming to the side of the minor chaoslord who lead the iron warrior's force Tadench had requested.

"Tadench, I've been calling for you." the chaos lord blatantly said with rage.

"I've been busy, the plan has to proceed exactly as I intend it to, and otherwise I'll have to try again…and again, and again!" Tadench roared at the annoyance of a chaos lord. _"Pathetic mortals! Can they not see the numerous finite details that must be attended to?'" _Tadench thought hostilely.

"You promised us the key to our own eye of terror." The chaos lord demanded.

"And it lies on the planet I told you of, but in order for you to attain it there needs to be a certain level of disorder that needs to be afflicted against everyone concerned, otherwise they will all be too organized and we might be stopped." Tadench countered, growing tired of this mortals pathetic whining and demands. So he simply left, ignoring the mortals soon following summons and the many bloody sacrifices.

*****

Dressed in what appeared to be rag tag civilian clothing Titonus and the astropath Gias finally were prepared for the long trek ahead of them.

"How far did your friend say you were going to meet from the nearest town?" the pilot asked, the thought of marching this long distance with enemies pursuing them obviously weighing on him.

"Sixty kilometers." Titonus replied, not missing a step as he marched.

"Saints above, oh, for once in my friggin life help me." The pilot whined as if praying to the emperor's saints.

Gias walked up to his master's side and leaned in close to the inquisitor he had served all his life. "Sir, you obviously wanted me to come to send a message. Should I now send one?" he asked, hoping to be able to withdraw into something that he understood and could do well.

The inquisitor did not even look at the astropath. "No, we don't know how powerful these heretics are yet. That could have been the most powerful force they have." Titonus put forth.

"Or it could have been a small force; they could have been trying to keep our existence secret even from themselves." Boras countered with his own deduction. This caused the old inquisitor to smile.

"You're possibly right, however in either case we need to find out how extensive their reach is before acting." Inquisitor Titonus said, enlightening his subordinates.

*****

Confessor Lunamaria was certainly reaching the limits of her patience with these plebeians, one after another they came to her booth at the entrance to the communion begging her to hear their confessions of minute sins and to bring their groveling pleas to the prophet so that he might forgive them. All in the name of the sacred green crystal, already the prophet had used the power of the crystal to banish the deamons from their world. No longer would the dark ones call for their evil masters for their masters were trapped in the hell that they belonged, for that everyone on the planet was thankful. However, Lunamaria could hardly stand these people, their sheer ignorance appalled her, they called the prophet 'the emperor reborn' of the greatest saint. Could they not see the tyranny that had dictated their past religion, how fear kept them tied to the rule of a corpse, fear of deamons, fear of the imperium's inquisition? If she were to ever see an inquisitor she would slay it for the freedom brought by the transfiguration of the sacred glow.

*****

"How far did you say you're friend was having us meet from civilization?" the pilot, who was now several yards ahead of the group, asked.

"Again, sixty kilometers, and I'd say we have covered about twelve kilometers so at this pace it will take about two days." The interrogator Boras answered for the ageing inquisitor.

The pilot then turned with a smile. "Then what the hell do you call that?" behind him stretched a large carnival-like aria, with several tents and other booths all centered around four statues and a strange round structure with three rotating holographic images.

Inquisitor Titonus allowed his eyes to widen as he looked on with wonder at the scene below. "A stroke of luck I would presume, however this is not something the ecclesiarch would allow, I see at least twelve markings that match those of our attackers. This isn't the enemies base, but it still is part of their cult. We will proceed with caution.

The pilot grinned at the old inquisitor. "After you m'lord."

*****

Lunamaria sighed, yet another child of the brotherhood passed by, his sin had been nothing more than cursing at an object that had the markings of the brotherhood on it. "These people had never been so zealous when the imperials ran things." She sighed, glancing up to see a new group of dirty looking commoners approaching. "Welcome brothers to the communion." She welcomed as warmly as she could though she kept her eyes focused downwards.

"A long day sister?" a deep voice asked her. To which she replied with a weak laugh.

"Very rough, so far you are the only people who hadn't come one their knees begging me to hear their confessions."

"Perhaps you shouldn't advertise yourself , confessor Lunamaria." The voice paused. "Hmm, doesn't state your last name."

Lunamaria glanced up from her desk to see the man in front of her, he had dark tanned skin, white eyes with a scar over his right eye, and very dark hair despite his obvious age, he was looking at the sign that identified her as a confessor. "I gave up my last name a long time ago; if you do not have anything to confess I'd advise you to proceed quickly the prophet will be speaking shortly."

As she said this three reckoners stopped outside the entrance. Causing her to quickly get out of her seat. "Damn you fool!" Lunamaria shouted at the lead driver while the group of commoners passed by her and entered the communion.

*****

Now inside the entrance inquisitor Titonus stopped to observe the woman who was now shouting at the several soldiers outside. The soldiers were obviously the same ones who attacked his party before. Though it was difficult to hear, the entire group had very weak shielding of their thoughts making them easy to read, despite the strange haziness that stood between the inquisitor and the minds of the soldiers.

As the woman shouted more at the soldiers ,causing them to recoil from her, the black armored leader stepped out from the lead vehicle. "Sister! The communion must be locked down, the enemy escaped." The leader said in low gothic.

"To hell with you! We cannot lock down an entire communion! Not when the message is about to be delivered to the entire planet!" she replied.

The black armored leader took an aggressive step towards the woman but she held firm. "Sister we must do so!"

The woman glared at the leader and for a moment, Titonus thought that she was going to submit. "Listen confessor! I am a year your veteran and I have been charged with all the believers who have been gathered here, they shall hear the message."

Beside Titonus the cocky pilot leaned close to the inquisitor. "Darn, that means she's just like that black guy, so much for savin' her soul then taking her out to date." He said in a joking tone.

Titonus spared a glance for his entire remaining team. "Let's go see this message they are so intently talking about, then we'll make our way to the nearest city with help of someone who might give us a ride, or conveniently donate their vehicle to the cause of the imperium."

*****

"Brothers welcome!" a recorded voice said repeatedly as the inquisitors group entered into the main assembly aria. At each of the four corners of the aria, there were large statues of a bald man with a goatee.

"Hmm, if you ask me this seems a little extravagant." The pilot mocked.

"yes, but for securing the loyalties of the local populous I wouldn't think of anything different, that is if I was in their position." Boras retorted.

Staying near the back of the crowd the inquisitors group were nearly unnoticeable among the few hundred people who were all gathered together and being driven into a wild frenzy as one different chant after another was begun.

The people were all focused around a single strange round shield shaped structure with a rod that had three rotating holographic screens and a pair of loud speakers. On the screens, rotating around the rod, the words "you are at embassy 1828" flashed several times. Then the worlds were replaced by the same symbol that Titonus had seen on the red armored soldiers, a hexagon whose sides had been elongated making it appear triangular, inside of which a ,poised to strike, scorpion's tail lay, all of which was superimposed on a red background.

"At least we know this is a consistent organization, and not a series of small chaos factions." Boras whispered to his master.

It was then that the people began to chant. "KANE, KANE, KANE KANE!" they roared, cheering the name over and over. Moments later the holographic screens grew in size and the face of the man represented in the statues appeared.

""Brotherhood!" he shouted, to which the people roared in excitement. Titonus and his fellow party members hover remained quiet. They observed the enemy who had lead the planets people astray from the emperor, the creature who had been ultimately responsible for the deaths of two of their own and a possible third, the source of chaos on this world.

"I come to you bringing news of a victory unparalleled in the entire history of this world, never before has luxodia or any planet of this imperium received such a prevailing triumph." The smug look on the man's face made the inquisitor want to kill him even more.

"I came to a world ever fearful, a people enslaved by fear of an enigmatic force, held to a tyranny that used that fear to feed its own corruption. Now I have come and shown you the way, I have brought vision to those blinded by terror of the unseen. You have seen the way brothers, and with it we have reached our envisioned goal." The man preached to the hungry listeners. However Titonus listened listing every possible heresy and lie this man placed forth gleaning all he could of the cult this monster had made and determining what aspect of the great enemy this pathetic creature could possibly worship.

"Through the power of Tiberian the brotherhood has vanquished the terror that called themselves deamons from this world, never again to return. And together we shall form a new age, one no longer dictated by fear of these beasts, one which grants you freedom from the oppressive empire you were once chained to." the man named Kane claimed, an outrageous comment that fueled the inquisitors anger, and obviously that of his interrogator.

"One vision, one purpose! Brothers, sisters, Tiberian is the answer; Tiberian is the key to our ascendance! Turn to the heavens for soon we may share our light with the universe, but only those who are strong enough in their faith and chosen by god will carry the word throughout the stars." The man claimed again.

Virtually alone Titonus snorted. "The imperium won't let them get any further with their 'message', they and their leader will all die." He promised himself, as the bald Kane, went on with his message. However, Titonus had already begun ignoring the heretic and was deciding how to bring the emperor's justice to this world.

*****

When the assembly had ended Titonus and his team assembled silently as the crowd began to disperse heading to some local attraction or booth, or simply headed towards the entrance in order to return home. As Titonus and his group approached the entrance Titonus felt a hand firmly placed on his shoulder, he quickly turned to face whoever had come up behind him.

However, Titonus did not fully expect what he encountered. Swiftly a woman embraced him shouting, "Oh, Titonus, Titonus Boalshark it is you the prophet truly does protect!" Grabbing his head, she pulled his ear close to her mouth. "Play along or you and you're whole group are dead, inquisitor."

"Yes, it is me…h-how long has it been?" Titonus replied, pretending to be filled with joy as best he could.

"Oh, and this must be Boras, I've heard so much about you from Titonus, my name is Lurral Sythona." The woman then said turning to Boras and taking his hand to shake. "Oh, and here is Gias, and oh you can't be Gregor, little Gregor from first grade? My how you've changed…but…but where is Stan, Gregor where is your brother?" she asked the pilot who looked confused.

"I'm sorry but…" however the glare on everyone's face prevented him from completing his thought. "…M-my brother had an accident a few days ago." Pilot Anthony Cheknov lied, still not understanding what sort of game this was.

"Now how about I take you all to town in my car, then you can stay at my place, you certainly look like you hiked all the way here. Egh you smell like corpse." The woman said, grabbing Titonus by the hand and leading him towards the exit.

At the exit though they had someone waiting for them. Now in black armor similar to the leader of the militant group who attacked them, Lunimaria stood blocking the exit with several militants behind her.

"Going somewhere, Lurral?" she asked hostilely.

"Home, sister." Lurral replied even more hostilely.

"And who might you be taking with you? Friends? Don't tell me they are like your last friend." Lunimaria asked, a snide tone giving away a hint of victory in her voice.

"No, after Duran was a mistake…if I had known he'd actually betray the prophet…I-I would have killed him myself. I should never have loved him. That is why I must atone, am I wrong sister?" Lurral said, sounding as though she was both near tears and in revelation.

"That is right sister, well good day." Lunimaria said before turning to leave. Lunimaria entered into one of the cult's strange transports and before the vehicle left, Turned and shouted. "Remember Tiberian is the way sister."

Lurral stood for a moment before whispering loud enough for the inquisitor to hear. "Yea sister it is, it's the way strait into hell it is."

Lurral then turned to face the inquisitor who now was smiling.

"Boras I want to introduce you to my most trusted spy, Lurral, Lurral Duran."

Lurral smiled back at her inquisitor, "no, it's Lurral Sythona. Can you never play your role properly?" she demanded in a chitchatting tone.

"Now shut up, they might have shadow's here." Lurral demanded, as she guided them towards here vehicle.

*****

In Lurral's vehicle the inquisitor's group relaxed for the first time in hours. Stating the first thought on mind Anthony demanded.

"Who in the god-emperor's name is this?" pointing accusingly at Lurral. The woman whose long blond hair, blue eyes and thin figure made her seem like a homely person who would be fine wafting about in a pretty dress. Not like the typically assumed dark individuals serving an inquisitor.

Titonus smiled knowing the same thought was going through the heads of Gias and Borus. "Lurral Duran, one great actress and an extraordinary con artist. She used to live in a hive world until one day she tried to con a chaos cult leader I had been tracking. Since then I had her in my employ tracking down whatever cult or situation she thought would peek my interest and using local men of her employ to contact me. This is the first time we have met face to face in, how many years Lurral?"

"At least eight sir."

Borus smiled. "You've had her as long as you've had me and I never knew. Truly I need to learn more."

"Lurral, how extensive is this cults power?" Borus then demanded of the woman.

"Strait to the chase, Titonus why did you get such a boring Interrogator?" Lurral teasingly asked Titonus. "Alright the cult of Nod has held this planet for a while now, this green crystal they worship, Tiberian, it-it prevents us from arguing or resisting them. first they have planted it in positions all around this planet and it has spread so extensively that we can't possibly get rid of it. Also they are the only ones who can control it, they know how to refine it, to make whatever they want out of it. Fertilizer for your field, they have a refinery for that; need a strong metal they have numerous refineries for that. Recently ,though, they have increased a military presence. The type of technology they use is incredible but not much of a match for imperial weapons. Their leader, Kane, I'd watch out for him though. The man's brilliant, I mean scary brilliant, he always seems to be six steps ahead of you, and he seems to know everything. When Tiberian and his cult first showed up he predicted every possible action that our governor would take, and so his preaching was well accepted. We even had a slight Deamon problem, some small tine summoner was causing them to show up and so the PDF had this hands full finding these 'Deamon' threats, but this Kane guy said that he'd stop the Deamons with the power of Tiberian, and after he said that the Deamons gradually disappeared." Lurral lengthily explained while driving. She sighed sadly before adding, "I think this whole planet would die for that man if he asked, however I wouldn't risk letting this Tiberian survive…it survives anything, our governor had a nuclear weapon dropped in one of the fissures of the stuff and it still survived. The only way I know this is because I found a boyfriend who had investigated the stuff, he took on the name Duran in order to cover for my messages to you."

Titonus glanced to the side of the rode and found a small field of the green crystal laying nearby. "Lurral, have the car break down and stop us near that Tiberia stuff over there."

"Yes sir, but sir…" Lurral complied, and asked for her inquisitor's attention.

"Yes Lurral."

"It's pronounced Tiberian"


	3. summon your allies

**Summon your allies.**

In the immaterium Tadench could feel it, the moment he had been waiting for. He looked down at his one blessed mortal and could feel the thing reaching out to the immaterium trying to send its masters message out into the galaxy so that it's brethren could pick up the thoughts he was projecting and carry them to their respective masters. "come on, do it… come on, come on, DO IT!" he roared as the little human mind struggled to send the message through the haze that surrounded the planet. Tadench could hear the mortal's moaning about interference and strange power. Tadench only roared more, demanding that the puny mortal send his message. However, looking down he could see that the human would die before the message penetrated the cloud surrounding the planet. "What now? What now…if that message does not reach I am ruined!" Tadench sighed.

Tadench then gathered his courage and entered into the cloud surrounding the world and took up the mortal's message, aiding it in it's progress. He could feel the mortal tremble in absolute fear as the Deamon interfered aiding him as his message tried to find a way to leave the planet. Finally Tadench and the mortal jointly sent the message out into the far reaches of the immaterium where its intended recipients greedily took it in. However Tadench could not let the mortal know of his existence so he then performed a more dangerous task risking destruction, by the cloud of power surrounding the planet, he surged his power flooding the small humans mind until he could see that the human's body bleed and his flesh turn cold and lifeless. With his mission accomplished Tadench fled the planets reaches and while licking his injuries congratulated himself for his plots evil craftiness. "Yes you mortal fools summon your allies here, have them fight and destroy. Have them create a haze of war in which chaos may hide."

*****

Gias whimpered in Titonus's hands, apparently Titonus might have overestimated his astropath, the man's body shook violently, his flesh was ice cold and already ice crystals were forming around his eyes, and blood was running freely from his nose. "come on, you can do this." Titonus softly encouraged his astropath, if the message did not make it through then it was possible that this world would be doomed to the chaos this Nod cult had brought with them. then the astropath began to mutter, "no, no, no. I-I can not let you take the message. I will not let the this message be turned to your evil will." He muttered as his shaking began to calm. Finally after an antagonizing time,. Gias stopped shaking and looked up at his inquisitor master. "the message has been sent, b-but…" however before he could continue he shook violently blood began to exit his body by all means possible, his eyes, ears, mouth and skin began to seep with blood. Once the blood left his body it then instantly froze, and it was apparent that the astropath had died.

Titonus looked out of the vehicle, Lurral and the pilot ,Anthony Cheknov, and even Borus were outside the car pretending to be repairing the engine. Titonus got out of the vehicle to join them. "Gias is dead." He stated dully.

"Did the message get sent?" Boras asked, worried about their fate if it was not.

"It did, but now we need to get rid of Gias's body." Titonus instructed.

"Just drop him in the Tiberian, he should be gone within a few hours, and most people will simply think that he possibly threw himself in it." Lurral advised.

"Alright then, Boras you and our pilot throw him in." Titonus ordered.

Slightly insulted the pilot spoke up. "I have a name inquisitor, it' Anthony, Anthony Cheknov."

This gave Titonus a moment of pause. "You're not related to Lord Solar Abraham chesknov, are you?"

Anthony, smiled brightly as he hefted Gias's dead corpse. "yes I am, I'm his twelfth nephew. Ah, lord this body reeks." Anthony then unceremoniously threw Gias's body into the tiberian field.

Titonus turned to Lurral, "Lurral, It's time that the engine is fixed." Titonus instructed. It was then that the entire group got into the vehicle and started the engine and began driving to Lurral's home.

*****

Light-years away on a planet named earth by it's inhabitants meetings took place, panicked people debated the greatest course of action. But no matter the outcome, no matter what experiment preformed what regulation or action that took place there was only one possible course for the survival of the planets inhabitants. So then all the scientists of the world turned their minds towards one object, one structure that their enemy had used to escape them leaving them to their fate and taking the only key to their survival with him. They turned to the threshold tower and gathered a army or retribution the greatest assembled force of space worthy transports and high tech weaponry possible for their people to spare at the time. Even if the expeditionary force they had assembled failed to bring justice to the cult that had plagued them for so long, if it could at least bring back something to use against their growing doom it would be enough.

*****

"They escaped! I told you to lock down the Communion!" the confessor from before shouted, his insignia of religious rank reflecting the glow of the screen he was looking at. On the other side of the communications link Lunimaria glowered at the pathetic man.

"Brother, calm yourself! As your senior I take responsibility for anything that may of occurred at the communion, and I already have a lead to these possible traitors and you so called inquisitor and I will dispatch with them." she calmly informed.

"No you shall not! How dare you call yourself my senior, I hail from earth! I was a brother far longer than you were, I was one of the ones who save the soul of this world!" he roared.

"But as an confessor I am still your senior, I am also a carrier of the black hand's mark of enlightenment. Meaning that my actions are completely reinforced by the black hand, while yours brother are only approved as you only hold their seal of approval," Lunimaria countered, "and may I also note that I also have much more direct access to the messiah of this world than you do?" she added triumphantly.

"Yes sister."

"however I am in seeking of humility, for that is the personal quest given to my by the priests of the black hand, so I will allow you to pursue my lead, but you must do so in acknowledgement of my participation." She then stated catching her fellow confessor in awe.

"Thank-you sister."

"Thank the prophet, _brother_."

*****

At an apartment complex that Lurral had called home for nearly a year, the inquisitor and his allies contemplated their next course of action. It had already been nearly a month and no imperial fleet had arrived, they had stayed well hidden and few people could identify them as strangers to the city. Even so they could feel Nod's net slowly closing around them as more and more fanatics joined the cults military.

"The embers of the great conflagration, that's what they are calling this, build up, if it continues nearly the entire planet will be armed and ready to assault the Imperium…if such a thought is possible for these people." Lurral summarized as another regiment of newly recruited militants marched past the complex.

"Yes I suppose such a thing would be on the minds of their leader, he doesn't seem like the type to be content with complete power on a isolated world." Inquisitor Titonus agreed.

"I'm more worried about their elites, they are getting closer to us, and they are getting better." Borus chimed in.

"Ha, I think when the guard shows up I'm going to volunteer for service. These bastereds shot me down and then they thought that they could get away with destroying the ship I've called home for a number of years." Anthony Cheknov grumbled from across the room.

As Titonus thought about what it would be like to fight such an unusual foe a presence seemed to strike his mind, someone was there listening, watching. He hurriedly scanned the room, immediately he could tell that Borus had also detected the presence.

"Lurral, it's time for us all to leave. Anthony, you and Lurral get the car, and hurry." Titonus instructed, making a gun sign with his hand to suggest that they both go armed.

*****

On the roof, the black armored confessor whom Lunimaria had sent after them listened through a device planted in the room by his team of shadow troopers. Behind him twelve such troopers waited, he signaled them with the hand signs they had decided upon. Without further instruction the troopers divided for their tasks. Swiftly four troopers attached themselves to zip wires, while four others took hold of the wires' opposite ends as to prevent the wires from falling down the buildings side and announcing the coming assault to the targets. The remaining four took to their hand gliders and soared to the garage where the targets Imperial compatriots' vehicle awaited.

Activating his HUD the confessor also saw that the four attack cycles and a single assault buggy waited to track down any targets that may have escaped the initial attack. And finally his HUD reminded him of the force of militants under his command waiting near the outside of the town, though they would not be needed, none of the targets would survive the initial moments of this fight.

"_look at me," _the confessor thought, "_on earth a command like this was not something a confessor would be given, but here we have too many forces for us to know what to do with."_

*****

The moment that Lurral and Anthony left Borus and grabbed this las-rifles and took cover behind the kitchen counter. There were only two ways into this third story apartment, the front door and the balcony. Either way was easily accessible for a determined and well trained opponent. After several moments without a sound Borus sighed and said. "Could we be wrong sir?"

Titonus lifted his finger to his mouth and then said, "Do you hear that?"

Then all hell broke loose. Gunfire from the upper rim of the balcony door sprayed the kitchen just above the inquisitor and interrogator's heads causing broken tiles shards to fall all around the two. Immediately the inquisitor and interrogator returned fire, and a single opponent, a hole through his chest collapsed to the balcony floor.

As a heavy spray of fire from the three squad mates of the dead shadow trooper forced them to cover Titonus watched as four wires dropped to the balcony floor, four points on the wires giving away the presence of four more assailants.

"I know I haven't asked for much, but dear emperor please help us now." Titonus whispered as he tried to find an angle from which to fire at the Nod cultists.

*****

Unaware of the shadow troopers advancing on the apartment, nor the four man team tracking them but they were alert. They already had gathered from the way that the inquisitor and his interrogator were behaving that there was some enemy somewhere preparing to attack.

Their level of alert was the only thing that saved them as they approached Lurral's car.

"click." The distinctive sound of a gun was noticeable anywhere, and in the seemingly abandoned garage with few cars the sound was as louder than it needed to be.

"down!" Anthony shouted, throwing himself on top of Lurral and pushing her behind her vehicle as a spray of gun fire whipped through the air where they had been standing.

"good job, but you forgot something kid." A rough voice said from above Anthony, a shadow trooper now was standing katana blade in hand ready to execute them both.

Two quick las-shoots erupted from the folds of Anthony's jacket striking the trooper in the chest. "he's right, you forgot to pull out your gun what do you think you're doing kid, trying to get us killed." Lurral growled at Anthony.

Pulling his own las-pistol out from his belt Anthony gave a quick squinting glare to Lurral. "and what is with you mistress Duran." He mocked.

"Titonus didn't tell you my whole story, before being a con artist I was being trained as a imperial guard commando, but well I'd like to not say." Lurral informed, "But at least they taught me how to fight with brains. You almost got us killed kid, focus."

After her lecture, Lurral returned to firing at the three remaining shadow troopers who had taken cover behind vehicles and were using their stealth to move from vantage point to vantage point. However, the echoing sounds of the garage kept them from moving with their full expertise and the defenders were able to keep them from flanking their position.

"You keep them back; I need to get under the car." Lurral instructed Anthony.

"What?" the pilot-turned-imperial-insurgent asked.

"I put a few upgrades in this thing, including a present for our friends." Lurral replied.

*****

Hidden behind the kitchen counter Titonus and Borus were safe for the moment, however they were also unable to move and the enemy was free to do as they pleased. Only erratic fire from the two kept the shadow troopers from simply overrunning them.

"We need to get out of this." Borus said, as calmly as he was telling his master that tea was ready.

Looking towards some of the unbroken portions of the kitchen appliances Titonus saw a clay drinking mug with a heart painted on its side.

"I need you to give me enough covering fire to reach the mug over there." Titonus ordered, pointing to the mug he wanted.

"Are you sure that is wise." Borus asked, his calm resolve still holding excellently.

"if I know Lurral, then yes." Titonus responded with certainty.

"Right." Borus swiftly repined, before rising and firing suppressive fire at the half-invisible shadow troopers the las rounds destroying more of the ruined apartment. With the enemy now diving for cover Titonus grabbed the clay mug witht the heart on it and reached inside pulling out a tube-like device from inside of it before diving back into cover.

Seeing the device in his master's hand Borus, before rising to continue firing at the still advancing shadows, asked, "What is that?"

Titonus smiled, mostly to himself, before replying, "a smoke grenade, Lurral always puts her weapons in a spot marked with a heart…always." He informed as he pulled the pin and rolled the grenade into the center of the apartment where it released a satisfactorily dense cloud of gas. "Move." Titonus then ordered.

As they got up a spray of gunfire flew around the two but a few quick rounds received satisfactory screams as two of the shadows dropped dead with a loud thud. Titonus and Borus then exited the apartment through the front door, but stopped just outside. "You take the left." Borus suggested, and Titonus then leaned against the left side of the door his sword in hand. With any luck, they could ambush their ambushers.

The shadow troopers did just as they had hoped, lined up four of the troopers began to run out the door. However before the troopers realized what was happening Titonus brought his sword down on the first removing the heretic's head. Then with a final move Titonus thrust his blade into the head of the fourth. Titonus then sheathed his blade and Borus eyed the bodies. With a quick glance Titonus scanned the completely ruined apartment.

"Borus, how many were there?" Titonus asked.

"Eight sir. Blast! Where is the last one?" Borus cursed.

It was then that Titonus spotted the small package in the center of the apartment, the one with runes counting downwards. "Throne above! Move!" he shouted shoving Borus towards the stairwell.

*****

The confessor, who waited above, knew something had gone wrong when the team who had assaulted the room did not report in after the firing had stopped. He tapped the com set on his head and ordered that they report, but no reply came. He tried again.

"Charley team, Beta team come in." no response. "those damn fools, can one only trust the black hand to do anything successfully?" it was then that the explosion happened, the whole building shock, and flames rolled up all four sides as the confessor was thrown to the ground. Worried he checked on the progress of alpha team and according to the images he was receiving they were doing fine, their targets had bunkered down behind a car but they should be able to eliminate them easily enough. He then changed frequencies. "come in, hunter team, you had better prepare, we might have two runners, get my reckoner ready to move out. May the prophet bring us victory!"

*****

After several moments of covering Lurral, Anthony was finally rewarded when she got up from underneath the vehicle with a can-like device in hand.

"What in the warp is that?" he demanded.

Lurral only smiled back, pulling a pin from the can and threw it towards where two of the attackers had gathered. Upon contact, the can released a large cloud of gas which then lit into a burning inferno. However while they burned the two enemies drew blades and charged, despite the courage of the charge it was a futile effort and Anthony immediately felled the two with accurate shots to the chest.

"In the car now!" Lurral ordered.

"Hay!" Anthony began to protect, but a glare stopped him short.

"In the emperor damned car right this warp fucked minute!" Lurral growled, cussing like a veteran that Anthony had once transported back in his imperial fleet days.

"Yes mam." He yelp before jumping into the car. When someone looks at you like that you obey.

Lurral then jumped into the driver seat and began to quickly back. As she backed the last of their assailants ran out in front of the vehicle with a large package in hand and what appeared to be a detonator in the other. They could also hear him begin to laugh and speak in that incompressible language that the other Nod veterans used.

"No you don't!" Lurral growled, suiting the vehicle into a forward gear and pressing hard on the gas. The vehicle was quick to respond and rammed into the soldier with enough power to throw him off his feet. She then pulled out a pistol and fired into the man's stealth helmet a satisfactory 'clink' sounding his death.

"Alright I believe that you possibly were a commando. So why did you become a con artist, were you discharged for something?" Anthony sighed relieved to still be alive.

"Oh, god…did I do this?" Lurral asked a blank look akin to confusion on her face as she looked at the bodies.

*****

The explosion was huge, a torrent of fire so devastating that it threatened to cause the building to collapse. And both Titonus and Borus had survived. Burned the side of Titonus's face was now a frightening black mark covered with dry blood. It was obvious that the scar from the burns would be permanent, however the inquisitor took little notice to the damage to his face. "Borus, are you alright?" he asked of his interrogator.

"Yes, Titonus…your face." Borus remarked, pointing to his superior's head.

"Yes, I think that Lurral will be outside by now." Titonus exclaimed.

As they ran Borus and Titonus had nothing to do but watch the stairs they were descending and talk. "I do not think you have been completely honest with us concerning this Lurral individual sir. Could you please...?" Borus stopped short as he checked an suspiciously open door but found noting.

"We were the only people in the building today, which means if anyone came through here it would have been a cultist…however it may be that they were retreating." Titonus observed pointing to the different indications that supported what he was saying.

"Right let's hurry sir."

*****

Hurt but alive the confessor quickly descended the staircase, he could hear the voices of what could have been anyone above him. However this whole incident needed to remain secret so he quickly ensured that he would not be seen, opening a door he concealed himself in a random apartment room near the staircase. It was then the voices became clear. They sounded as though they were his targets, somehow the prophet had allowed them to escape, which only meant that he should be challenged further. Once they continued down the stairwell, the confessor used his HUD to check on the condition of his troopers, all the shadows were registered as dead, and the rest of his troops were not quite close enough to simply intercept his targets. This hunt could not be contained in this single building they would now have enemies loose in the streets, ones the brotherhood needed dead.

*****

In the middle of a parade, Lunimaria removed her helmet and nearly threw it to the ground. "That idiot, I should have been there! He had so many chances and he passed them up!" she raged, causing one of the soldiers closest to her to take notice and place himself next to the confessor.

The soldier thought the woman who was his leading confessor was beautiful, her short red hair, eyes of a purple tint, thin jaw and womanly lips all made her seem extremely attractive to him in an unattainable way. "M-may I be of service confessor?" he asked, awed by the beauty he had thought was an elderly Nun underneath her armor.

Lunimaria simply clenched her fist and glared swiftly at the militant. "I should had lead that battle, he-he ruined it."

"I'm sorry sister, but don't be too eager for battle Nod still has a whole galaxy to purify." The militant told his confessor, hoping that he could calm her…and possibly gain some affection from her.

"He sacrificed his whole name to the prophet, the idiot, people like that are worthless! How can you gain fame that way? Why would any care if you die? How can your martyrdom serve the prophet if you are a worthless title, something that there is thousands of?" she ranted.

"you sound just like the Mydoiyan family, except they all served that blood whatever of chaos…we are above the imperium and chaos right sister." The militant tried again.

Lunimaria simply glared more at the peon militant, he obviously did not understand a thing. "no the Mydoiyans did not all serve Khorne, many were still caught in the imperium's lies and suffered anyway."

"Well it looks like you proved another imperium lie false confessor." The militant pointed out, trying to change the subject, his beautiful confessor no starting to scare him.

"What?" Lunimaria growled impatient and wanting to end the parade already.

"they claimed that if you said that name that things like sudden mold, glass breaking, miscarriages and such would happen."

"Or it could just be that Tiberian liberates us from another weapon of terror the imperials use, remember Tiberian is the key, Tiberian is the answer." Lunimaria countered, before re-dawning her helmet and forcing the militant back into line. Men like him would make good confessors if they only would grow a brain. Lunimaria then spotted the signal indicating that her spy from the shadow teams had taken position next to her, he had come to personally report after leaving the bomb in the apartment building.

*****

Titonus and Borus reached the bottom of the stairwell and quickly rushed out of the building where Lurral and Anthony waited in the getaway vehicle. Quickly the two leapt into the vehicle and it took off. Lurral was driving a slightly scared expression on her face and in her eyes. Immediately Anthony turned around and pointed a las-pistol at the inquisitor.

"You owe me an explanation, NOW! One minute she is cursing as if she has done it all her life claiming to be a ex-imperial guard commando, killing relentlessly, And the next she's about ready to cry unable to hold a gun strait and whining about being an actress and not a warrior. What kind of fucked up psychotic have you placed me with?" Anthony demanded. Titonus glared a moment at the pilot, the side of his face was still bleeding from open wounds.

"Borus patch up my face, I think the pain is setting in." he instructed his interrogator, who quickly began to place bandages on the inquisitor's face. "Lurral, Lurral it is you right, Lurral remember your training." He then whispered to the terrified looking woman. After her eyes seemed to widen with a blank expression then resettled with calm determination while she grinned with a humorous expression.

"I-I'm sorry sir, I lost control, it's been years since that last happened, forgive me." Lurral calmly said with a light-hearted tone.

"I'm not getting my explanation inquisitor!" Anthony growled his fear obvious in his eyes.

Titonus slowly looked Anthony in the eye. "Lurral is a unique case, when I first meet her years ago she was nothing more than a actress turned con artist. However I also had an imperial guard commando named Duran working for me, the cult I was pursuing captured both of them to test an experiment on. They wanted a new way to implant their agents, they wanted to not only be able to rewrite people's memory, which is a common but psychically detectable and predictable practice, but they wanted to completely remake the person. By placing an agent in a new body, using some sort of triggering key to awaken their agents' consciousness they could get cultists anywhere they wanted. I interrupted their experiments, destroyed the cult and saved Lurral, however Duran had already been killed and his consciousness implanted in Lurral, she then spent a year in psychic therapy before becoming my spy." The inquisitor explained.

"Like I said sir, this was my first slip in years, I am truly sorry." Lurral apologized. Meanwhile Borus finished patching up the inquisitor and looked out the vehicles rear window.

"This is all good; however, we currently have larger issues. Take the vehicles pursuing us for example." Borus said, pointing to the four attack cycles and assault buggy now closing into attack range of their vehicle.

"Give me a break!" Lurral growled in reply, as she made a sharp turn onto a new road.


	4. arrival

**Arrival**

"Quick, shoot them!" Titonus roared to Borus and Anthony. Who then in turn aimed and fired their rifles at the oncoming attack vehicles. However the bikes were far too small and nimble as well as armored for the las-rifles to hit effectively. The assault buggy on the other hand quickly swerved and went down a side ally to escape the fire that was threatening it's driver.

Rockets soon followed the buggies retreat, exploding around the inquisitors escape vehicle it was obvious that the launchers on the cycles had not been aligned properly yet.

Joining Borus and Anthony in firing positions at the rear of the vehicle Titonus turned over his shoulder to shout to Lurral. "Lurral! Do you have any explosives!" he demanded.

"no!" she shouted in reply.

Anthony hearing this rose slightly in his seat and began fiercely firing at the cycles. "by the emperor's porcelain throne I am not dieing like this!" he shouted shooting even more fiercely. In his rage Anthony aimed at the rocket launcher of the nearest attack cycle and mostly by stroke of luck shot one of the rockets as it left the launcher. The explosion disoriented the driver, with his bike out of control he swerved violently and crashed into the bike behind him taking the vehicle out, along with his own.

*****

Watching the chase from the comfort of his command vehicle the nameless confessor took note of the current roads being used and decided to order his forces accordingly.

Tapping a bead on his helmet he accessed the command of his hunter team. "cycles force them to the right on the upcoming turn, then cycle 4 break off and cut them off, buggy hang outside the engagement aria in case they break out."

Sure a cycle might not be enough to kill them but a parade might.

*****

Listening Lunimaria was disgusted with the confessor, he would use a parade to bog down a single enemy, sacrifice brothers and sisters for nothing more than a pyretic victory of little importance? That was not the reason she had joined the brotherhood, she had joined to put people like that to the sword, she had joined to put the imperium at the edge of her sword, to take revenge, the revenge Kane offered her.

*****

As the vehicle speed down a T crossing soon came up ahead. Lurral seeing this glanced back for a quick moment to ask, "which way?" in the time she took to do so the two attack cycles had placed themselves to the left of the vehicle and opened fire.

"Right!" Titonus shouted, the fact that the enemy was now driving them obvious. Instantly Lurral obeyed and swiftly rounded the corner. After rounding the corner themselves the two attack cycles split up, one going down a side road, the other staying just out of effective firing range of the inquisitor's team.

Borus with a look of doubt on his face then turned to his master to ask, "What did we just get into?"

Overhearing the interrogator's question Lurral pointed up ahead on the road, "that!" she shouted, the large group of civilians with parading militants just beyond obvious.

"Crap pull us into a side ally, quick!" Titonus ordered.

"On it!" Lurral replied, before sharply banking into a small side street. However as she pulled in ahead of them the other attack cycle pulled into the street. "Shit!"

"Don't worry, I've got it." Titonus reassured the woman, throwing himself into the passenger seat and firing through the forward windshield at the oncoming cycle. Despite the las-fire striking the vehicle repeatedly, it continued forward, intent on stopping them from escaping even at the cost of the driver's life.

As the attack cycle closed, Lurral released a primal growl. "Emperor damn this!" she shouted as she drew her own las-pistol and fired repeatedly at the oncoming, suicide intent, enemy. Her rounds were remarkably well placed, striking all near the forward tire eventually causing it to explode and the bike to flip upwards and over her car. The attack cycle crashed behind her vehicle and flipped several times until it crashed into the other cycle that was pursuing them.

With a grin Lurral glanced at her passengers. "sorry, I really think you are all doing well, but I want to live." She joked as she slowed the vehicle's pace and began navigate carefully out of the city.

*****

"Hmmm, so the inquisitor choose to risk being trapped in the back alleys rather that try breaking through a wall of civilians and unprepared militants." Lunimaria stated to herself, the parade was still happening; however she was near the end. Once the parade was over for her, she would rush to the nearest command center. Until then she had to rely on her HUD to tell her what was going on, and to rely on her agent to put things to a satisfactory end.

*****

The car traveled at speed limit towards the city limit, soon Lurral would have taken them out of the city. "we're going to make it! go god-emperor yes!" Anthony cheered from the rear of the vehicle. "once I get out of here I'm joining the first imperial guard unit I see, I don't care if they're penal legion so long as they have nothing to do with you three, no more inquisitors." Anthony stated, sounding as bold as he could.

"Just try to find something out there that the inquisition isn't into." Borus challenged with a smirk.

"Shut up."

As he calmly looked out a window Anthony saw something keeping pace with their vehicle on the next road over. "Lurral, could you hurry up." Looking out the window he could see the object accelerate. "MOVE!" hearing a roar of an engine Lurral did as Anthony asked and pressed the gas pedal as hard as she could.

As the car accelerated the assault buggy from before whipped out of a side road and began to open fire with it's large autogun. Hundreds of rounds bounced off the road around the inquisitor's retreating vehicle.

"up ahead!" Titonus warned before firing out of what was left of the front windshield. Ahead of them two reckoners had deployed into battle bunkers and several militants stood ready to fire. Atop one of the reckoners a man in black confessor armor stood ready, giving orders to the militants who stood in the inquisitor's way.

"Looks like they aren't ready to let you go yet." Lurral said with a smirk. "man they must be your number one fans." Looking at the black armored confessor Titonus could recognize the motions and behavior, this one was certainly the same one they had encountered when first landing on this planet.

"it's time for some closure." Titonus muttered to himself as he raised his rifle to aim at the militants ahead.

*****

On top of the reckoner the confessor could see the oncoming enemy vehicle, he could see his own assault buggy, the light armored gun vehicle was closing behind his target, soon they would be in range of the militant blockade.

"This is it, you are not getting away, and I'll follow you to hell if that's what it takes."

*****

The car entered into the militants range and at once, all of the militants opened fire. Quickly Lurral dropped as low as she could in her seat while driving, while Titonus, Borus, and Anthony returned fire. The spray of fire was intense enough that the front end of the vehicle was nearly destroyed before it stopped. With their vehicle of little use the inquisitors and his allies quickly leapt out of the vehicle in order to take cover behind it. as the inquisitors team emerged from the ruined car the assault buggy opened fire as it approached from behind.

Quickly seeing themselves as a open target to the quickly advancing vehicle the four fired at the assault buggy, and by luck one of them managed to shoot the driver in the head, causing the vehicle to lose control and crash nearby.

Still their situation was dire, the cultist militants were advancing from their position at the roadblock, without adequate cover the inquisitor and the three under his command were doomed.

"No, no NO! it can't end like this!" Anthony cried huddled behind the car's wreckage. Lurral beside him stayed quiet and fired repeatedly at the advancing enemies and the inquisitor just beyond her slowly reloaded, more focused on the confessor whom he could not yet shoot than staying alive.

Borus placed a comforting hand on Anthony's should while reloading. "Have faith, the emperor's imperium is not something a petty group like this can beat. And I am certain that the emperor may be watching and acting in our favor."

"Yea right, what an entire imperial crusade comes here for a visit? Face it they didn't respond to your call."

*****

Lunimaria watched in fascination as the situation quickly reverted itself. Now the confessor had his inquisitor target trapped, but not by whatever that man had thought of as tactics but instead by sheer numbers. The parade had ended for her and now she sat back in the Nod command center simply watching her pathetic brother in Nod.

"Tell the commander that the inquisitor is dead." She ordered as a technician approached from behind.

"I am sorry sister, instead I was sent to inform you that currently you are the highest ranking officer in the entire city. Kane had ordered that all other commanders gather for a meeting with his inner circle." The calm voiced technician informed.

"What?! If the prophet wills it, but am truly the highest ranking military person here?" she asked in reply, shocked to find that by military standards she ranked highest in the city currently. By religious term though as a confessor she was nearly equal with any temple priest in the city.

"Sister, you are a member of the temple confessors, as such you also have a military rank surpassing all field officers present in this city. We are a simple city madam the most we have are confessors of the public and secret shrine." The technician said, sounding almost as if he were confessing a sin.

Lunimaria turned back to the scene of battle playing on the screens before her, the inquisitor was certainly doomed, and little could help him now that he was trapped behind a wrecked piece of metal. However she could hardly enjoy the thought of the coming kill, the soon to die imperials. Thoughts of why Kane would call away all the officers, to such an extent that someone as basic, mid ranked, as she would have command over an entire city distracted her.

*****

"This isn't looking good. Perhaps a change in scenery would be good!" Lurral called out to Titonus as the militants drew even closer. The weight of their numbers was far too much for the four of them to stop.

"Give me a moment, just a few seconds where crap like this doesn't happen to me!" Anthony complained to the emperor yet again, as he neared the limit of his ammunition.

"Have faith." Borus muttered to the hopeless pilot. Meanwhile Titonus kept his gaze on the confessor, the black armored heretic was too proud, a man like him would be coming to finish them off himself. Once he made that mistake Titonus would strike, if they were doomed then at least he would take that one with him.

*****

The confessor watched the carnage happily, the inquisitor would be out of ammunition within moments, when that happened he would take his sword and perform a summery execution of that 'imperial'. It was almost enough to make him laugh, the thought that one the most feared entities in the entire human race should fall to his sword. GDI had been a more difficult opponent, truly the prophet could see past all obstacles.

"Confessor, behind you!" a voice in his ear announced. Lurral, he forgot about her, despite her ever persistent annoyance he would give her a little acknowledgement. And just to humor her he turned around, there was no possible way that she could steal his glory now.

"Oh god." He muttered as he turned.

A large transport, large enough to carry a number of vehicles was landing yards away. It was blockish, and scarcely aerodynamic. Just like the transport that had brought this annoying inquisitor. The instant the transport landed it's rear hatch opened, allowing numerous green armored soldiers to pile out. The soldiers were basic looking, green uniforms heavy flack jackets and green helmets.

Tapping a bead on his helmet the confessor took command of his troops and alerted them to the presence of these new enemies. "Brothers! RISE UP!" he shouted waving his hand signaling their attack on the new invaders.

*****

Hidden behind the ruined vehicle Titonus could see hundreds of las-beams flashing past the numerous militants. It was quite obvious which way the battle was going. The militants had been caught completely unprepared, the only things saving the militants from a near instantaneous defeat was the presence of their two reckoners. The Nod confessor was well concealed behind one of the reckoners and fought bravely with his men, churning out round after round towards the forces assailing them.

"Now's out chance." Borus whispered as he lifted himself and began to advance towards the rear of the enemy. The inquisitor, Lurral and Anthony quickly joined Borus advancing towards one of the two reckoners. However, by the time that Titonus and the others had reached the reckoners they had nearly been completely destroyed. The militants had already been reduced to a few survivors and imperial guardsmen were already advancing past the ruined mobile bunkers.

"Shit where's my flag." Lurral cursed as she reached into her pockets finally producing a small imperial flag she then began to wave happily. Spotting Lurral's flag several imperial guardsmen gathered around the four survivors and with guns ready ordered them to lower their weapons.

"Please." Titonus muttered pulling out a inquisitorial roulette, to which most of the soldiers responded with shock. "Which regiment is this, do you have an commissar or officer I may speak to?"

"T-this way sir." One of the guardsmen instructed, with a wave of his hand, leading the inquisitor and his party to the spot immediately in-between the two destroyed reckoners. "Colonel Crackus will be here soon, and I think commissar Josephus is nearby."

"I am right here." A firm commanding voice said as the regiment's commissar stepped forward. "Commissar Josephus Murudal of the Ozzi 101st foreign regiment." The commissar introduced himself with a bow.

"Commissar." Titonus responded in kind. "I am Inquisitor Titonus Hond, now if you could possibly inform me of the current combat readiness of the imperial forces whom have arrived?" the Inquisitor then asked.

"I suspect that you were the reason for our detour? Our regiment was supposed to be transferred to outpost duty for a season, and receive reinforcements to replace the men we lost; a full battalion's worth has died in the last few months of fighting. However we got off lucky." The Commissar explained with a grin.

Anthony then laughed. "The Ozzi 101st, the lucky regiment, I've heard of you."

Titonus then smiled at the pilot. "I almost forgot, well if your regiment needs soldiers, I distinctly remember this man hear promising to join the first imperial regiment he sees."

"Right now, any new face could help; the lack of moral recently has made my job hell." The commissar stated.

"Now back to my question Commissar." Titonus then demaned, his tone changing to be more demanding than friendly.

"R-right Inquisitor." The Commissar nearly gasped. "Lord solar Chesknov was in the midst of leading a very successful campaign to cleanse the sector of xenos and heretics. Currently we have amassed our forces to the highpoint in this mission. Nearly six thousand regiments are present in our force totaling nearly thirty million fighting men of the imperial guard."

"Might not be enough." Lurral then interjected.

"Have faith, the emperor always provides." Borus countered.

"You think thirty million can fight four billion?" Lurral questioned.

The Commissar raised a hand. "Should I be hearing this?"

Titonus gazed into the commissar's eye for a sort moment before coming to a decision. "Yes, I think you will all know soon enough. This planet has been completely converted to subtle chaos cult called the brotherhood of Nod, however due to the nature in which this cult took over the planet; we need it to be cleansed by the imperial guard. Now I need to speak to my old friend Lord Solar Chesknov, arrange a transport for me."

The commissar looked around for a moment then found a soldier who was not currently busy. "You get a transport for this man now!" he ordered, causing the guardsman to immediately snap to attention before running off to do as the commissar instructed. "Well inquisitor I think that what you are telling me is that we are lucky that the ecclesiarch recently provided us with a force of battle sisters, due to the moral threat of the last planet we visited, I don't think I know of anyone who does cleansing through fire better."

*****

Lunimaria was outraged, he was alive! That coward was alive on the front and just lay there instead of attacking, was he waiting for a better moment? This was the most opportune moment she could possibly see, in fact if that fool had a bomb with him he could take out the inquisitor, the inquisitor's friends, and even that 'commissar'. "He must want an un-glorious death." She decided.

"mam, the strategic preparation is complete all units waiting for your signal." A technician stated behind her.

"come on, do it, complete your duty to the brotherhood you fool!" Lunimaria growled beneath her breath at the fake corpse out on the field.

*****

"Alright, now get the armored unit up here immediately." The commissar ordered his back turned to the pile of dead heretic corpses.

Anthony watched the pile, looking at what the imperial guard had destroyed. Just moments before he had been convinced that the numbers of these enemies would overwhelm and kill him. As he watched he noticed movement. Small minute movement, but a movement neither the less. "Commissar." Anthony weakly called.

This call grabbed the attention of Titonus who was still waiting for the armored unit to bring a transport for him to use. "what is it?" the inquisitor asked, knowing that Anthony was quick when it came to spotting danger by now.

"The corpses." Anthony whispered in reply.

"Commissar, did your men stack those bodies?" the inquisitor asked.

"no they fell like that!" the commissar replied, as a black armored and ominous figure rose from the pile of bodies behind him, a black sword in hand.

"FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!" the nameless and enraged confessor shouted making a powerful overhead swing with his sword.

Drawing out and activating his power-sword commissar Josephus Murudal, blocked the coming blow. The commissar then attacked the confessor with a vicious blow of his own. However to everyone present surprise, the black blade of the confessor blocked the coming blow, despite the fact that the commissar's blade was a power blade and the black blade of the confessor most certainly was not.

"Behold a gift from the technology of peace!" the confessor roared. It was then that Titonus spotted it, a small, round green and black generator where the blade meet the hilt, along with a small green rod that ran up the length of the blade.

"That sword has some sort of protective barrier around it, which would explain why the commissar's power sword is not simply breaking it." Titonus flatly stated as the confessor and commissar both began a duel of powerful strike followed by viciously powerful strike.

After the two combatants continued to battle for some more time Titonus frowned with a expression of boredom. "Anthony, save your new commissar. That idiot obviously does not know how to use a sword properly." Anthony obeying the order of the inquisitor quickly grabbed a las-rifle took aim at the barely moving confessor and fired. The shot went over the commissar's shoulder and struck the enemy confessor in-between the eyes.

"Good shot Anthony, now commissar I requested a transport. Where is it?" Titonus then rudely demanded of the commissar who was now staring at the corpse of his dead opponent.

Lurral came behind Anthony and patted him on the back. "Good job, I guess I might see you around sometime. Now don't forget me, K?" she told Anthony before racing forward to join her inquisitor.

*****

"Confessor, three regiments of the enemy have begun their move into the city. Our forces are concealed and await your signal." A technician informed while bowing to the impromptu commander of the local Nod forces.

Swiftly a hand pounded the side of the man's head, as Lunamaria slowly rose from her seat. "T-that idiot! He did not know how to die properly! You people are supposed to take numerous enemies with you when you die, not waste your life for some pathetic duel. Honor means nothing, do you really think that these imperials would even think of honor! You kill them, you shoot them, you stab them in the back, you never let them have their way with you!" Lunamaria roared as she stood breathing heavily, her hand shaking violently. Lunamaria glanced at her trembling hand, what was it that made it shake so, rage, hate, fear? "I will give the order, and then you show them no mercy."

*****

Riding in a Aquila Lander Lurral silently gazed out of a open port, watching the countryside she had called home for a short time wiz by at incredible speed. She was silent, her long blond hair flying freely with the wind caused by the vehicles speed. "_Now don't forget me, K?_" the expression on the boy's face was so adorable, his ability to turn situations around also a gleaming highlight about the pilot that her inquisitor had brought to her.

Lurral glanced over her shoulder to see her inquisitor speaking over a map with his chosen interrogator, Borus. "_they don't need me here…" _she inwardly sighed, knowing that her use to the inquisitor was limited and the only reason she was kept on his pay was because he felt guilty about what had happened before.

Her mind made up Lurral confidently walked to the inquisitor to whom she owed her everything. "I'm leaving, sir, I've made my mind up. They need me more than you need me and I think that it would possibly serve you better to have an agent with the imperial guards staff force than here." She told the inquisitor.

Titonus looked up from the map and stared Lurral in the eye for a long moment before replying. "what took you so long woman? I have been waiting for you to decide your next act. Now if you need help getting in…"

"No," Lurral interrupted, "I think a more discreet entry would be more to your service my lord." She said making a low bow.

"I get your drift."

*****

"So, you gonna be part o'r new battalion er what?" an elderly looking guardsman asked Anthony. Meanwhile the regiment slowly marched down the city street, aware of any noise that might mean the presence of the enemy.

"The one that's supposed to arrive and reinforce? Yes I guess, do you know anything about them?" Anthony supposed that there would be plenty of new faces for him to meet and new friends to get acquainted with in the new battalion, but until then he had to stay alive.

"not much about these dough boys, but I hear that the 181st had such a bad time that their regiment's remains got broken down and that some o' their lieutenants and captains even a major all are being rerouted here to take command of it." the elder solder told Anthony in-between the few wheezes he let out. "sorry, the atmosphere of this world isn't to me lungs liking."

"The Ozzi 181st I've never heard of them, who are they?" Anthony asked as he checked a window. "_strange, just awhile ago this place seemed like it was overrun with cultists now we haven't seen a soul since coming in." _

"Hell Huggers, that's what we called 'em, trust me your gonna hate them, these guys volunteer for suicide missions they even have a added part for them contracts saying that their family gets paid their next four paychecks once they die and if they don't have em'selves family it's some lover or friend." The old man laughed.

"I'll take note of that." Anthony sighed, the flack armor he had been given did not feel comfortable, it was too new and while made with great quality still had to be worn for a while before it would become comfortable. "Alright I can't stand this! There should be cultists everywhere, where are they?" Anthony uttered under his breath. The older soldier just smiled watching Anthony.

"you've got to lighten up, they're here, we just have to wait. Once they are through praying to whatever evil force they worship they'll probably shout something and come chargin' at us from ever' which way." The old man then started to laugh. "Fancy uniforms or not, they'll be a runnin' at us and we just be shooting tem."

Anthony then could see the units Commissar came behind the old soldier. "Chaphious, silence!" the commissar grumbled.

"sorry commissar Josephus." The old man then saluted the commissar.

"alright boys nothing wrong has happened yet, could mean that the enemy has planned to regroup and then counter-attack, we still don't know their numbers or level of technology, all we do know is that we need to kill any heretic we see." The loud voice of the regiment's leader Colonel Crackus boomed over the high tech micro-bead in all of the soldier's helmets.

The old soldier leaned close to Anthony. "you'll notice one funny thin' about 'ur regiment, the Colonel doesn't like to get out much, but the commissar loves to be close to the troops."

*****

Lunamaria watched through the eyes of one of the shadows. Just a few more feet. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was looking and allowed herself to feel a moment of dark pleasure. This was what she had waited her whole life for, the single chance to do exactly this. "it was enough what you bastards did before…I promised this would come to you, now you are simply asking for it." she whispered to the thousands of marching imperials. The last one passed the point of no return. This was where she would begin her operation. Lunamaria might have been a impromptu commander but that didn't mean she lacked the skill to coordinate something like this. "fire the jamming missile." She flatly ordered. "_This is the first of my blows against you; you shall all die you hypocritical bastards!"_


	5. Nod's war

**NOD'S WAR**

"Sir Missiles!" a soldier in the regiment shouted as he pointed towards a wall of white streaks in the sky.

"Command! Command!" a vox-officer shouted again and again into his vox-caster. "Sir, we're being jammed!"

It was instantly recognizable what was happening, and Anthony did not want to be caught in the center of it. Quickly the ex-pilot-now-private ran and placed himself against the nearest wall, and just in time.

A single voice roared over the rooftops of the city around the column of imperial guardsmen. "Brothers! MAKE THEM SUFFER!" it ordered in a single battle cry. In response, nearly every unchecked window along the path the imperial guard had taken was broken open and a heretic rifle then thrust out of each window before they opened fire.

The opening of the engagement was bloody, off guard and simply unlucky imperials were near instantly cut down by hundreds of thousands bullets. Those who survived quickly darted for cover behind whatever they could make use of and returned fire.

"We can't stay on the road, into the buildings now!" an officers voice, cried over the roar of gunfire. Immediately Anthony and several of the guardsmen around him leapt into open windows or rushed through doorways and began to battle the militants inside.

Inside the buildings the fight was much more even, however it was also brutal. Men rounded corners to shoot other men, the fighting literally was room to room as militants in bathrooms, living rooms and all other types of rooms fought against guardsmen squads in similar rooms at near point-blank ranges. Anthony and the old guardsman both found themselves quickly pinned behind a old couch as militants fired out of a nearby bathroom. Both the old soldier and Anthony fired at the militants in return but neither side could get a clear shot at the other.

A vox-officer sat near Anthony struggling with his vox-caster like a techpriest. "It's working!" the man then shouted after a moment of gunfire. Quickly the officer sent out requests for reinforcement from the other two regiments. However the other two regiments were not fairing nearly as well as the 101st.

*****

Now arriving aboard the _victory class _battleship the _solara dawn _which served as the flag ship for the several hundred ship fleet of Lord Solar Abraham chesknov, Titonus was eager to speak with the old warmonger.

"You two obviously knew each other, however I don't seem to know from where or when." Borus stated, trying to deduce what kind of man his master's friend would be.

Titonus smiled, the still bandaged side of his face looking terrible despite the obvious light in his eye. "Not everyone is an inquisitor from the beginning, I knew him as a child, we both caused hell for the local PDF I got myself arrested several times. If it wasn't for his and my adventures together I would have never become an interrogator nor the inquisitor I am today. Fortunately, for both of us our low status births were countered by our extreme skills. Without my political support, he never would have begun his semi-glorious rise to the rank he has today. Abraham is a rare man, most Lord Solars reach their positions due to political advantage or family, Abraham reached his position based solely off his skill. Though plenty of people got a political boost due to his promotion." Titonus explained to the interrogator.

"I still don't understand you inquisitor, you just let your best spy go do whatever, you claim to have been a trouble causer in your youth with no standing, yet you make it seem like its all of no consequence." Borus stated.

Titonus chuckled a moment. "Now have good behavior, he's my friend and I don't want you to embarrass me."

As Titonus and Borus entered into the large battleship's bridge they could hear the newest vox-casts from the planet below. "Repeat, enemies in the city launched ambush, need reinforcement, please respond! This is the Demican 51st we need reinforcement." A voice called over a vox-box. Plenty of men on the ship darted around trying to organize the massive force that was going to take days to fully unload onto the planet.

A small looking half-bald man rose from a command pulpit and rose his hand to grab the attention of the nearby officers. "order the six infantry regiments that are currently at the deployment zone into the city, one half-hour after that deploy the Kootenai 352nd armored regiment with the Samarian armored infantry regiment." He ordered, a small cape on his back waved as he spoke.

"Abraham! I was starting to think you would be too late you old fool!" Titonus declared stepping forward and capturing the lord solar's attention.

"Sorry Titonus there's a battle going on, if we are going to do an exterminatus of this planet I need to get all my men off planet first. And unless you have anything important to tell me…" the old man let his words drift off.

"I understand, I don't want to make you do this also but I can not sanction you to perform exterminatus, my information tells me that if we do such a thing the cult down there will simply appear again on another world. I hate to ask you to do this, but I need you to purge this world with the might of the imperial army." Titonus told the Lord Solar.

"How disappointing, I hate to do this to my army. All right, I want our forces to increase our deployments; this is a full commitment of the imperial guard. Order the fleet to take positions around the planet to begin bombardment of the planets major cities. Last check of the Adeptus Ministorium this planet had nearly five billion, we need to ensure that our guardsmen still outnumber the enemy on this planet, pound their population to dust!" The old man then turned from his position on the pulpit and smiled at the inquisitor. "those damn kids are together again, eh?"

"indeed, it seems like whenever they get together they cause hell for someone." The inquisitor laughed in reply.

"Titonus, I don't think I am really needed here, lets go talk, it's been too long…oh, and why did you mention my nephew in your message, don't tell me that brat is down there?"

"Would you have come sooner if I hadn't mentioned him?"

"Possibly." Together the two old friends laughed as they headed towards the Lord Solar's private room.

*****

"Estimate time until enemy reinforcements change established battle lines." Lunamaria demanded of her intelligence officers.

"Confessor, it is estimated that the enemies main force will deploy against the city in one hour." A technician informed from behind one of the red glowing command pulpits. As he spoke a holographic projector displayed a two dimensional projection of the city with red lines symbolizing Nod's main deployments and gold lines as that of the imperial enemy. The lines on the projector changed size, bent and moved to estimate the change in the battle line positions based on the influx of new enemy troops.

"It appears that the apartment complexes will be in the new battle lines, have forces prepare defenses for that region immediately!" Lunamaria observed and then ordered. Lunamaria stared at the map display again looking for another tactical advantage.

"M'lady if I may suggest, it appears that the city's main library will fall just behind enemy lines, if we fortify it we could hold it." a tactical forecaster observed from behind Lunamaria.

"No, that would be an obvious tactic. Have a force conceal themselves there, once they fall behind enemy lines have them use explosives to damage the enemy rear." She ordered contrary to the forecaster. _"What use are men like these? They aren't commanders, they only advise, and advise stupidly at that."_ She thought looking at the many men looking at the various maps and trying to organize the local Nod forces.

She then returned to the map, another point of the city would fall just between the two forces, the city's small tiberian field, fortunately the public shrine remained behind that, however the secret shrine would fall to the enemy, to allow such a structure of religious importance to fall under her watch would be the greatest of shames. She was ,after all, a confessor, one whose life duty was to protect the shrines. "reroute our best confessors to the coordinates I specify, understood." Lunamaria then ordered.

"Yes mam."

*****

"Emperor above! They expect us to hold out for how frecking long?" the older soldier next to Anthony grumbled. How long had they been locked with the militants, an hour? Yes, that is how long it must have been by now, however Anthony and his allies had made little progress. They had secured the room they entered, and now the imperial guard had control of most of the building but that still left several rooms in the enemies' control, and many more buildings to be captured.

"W-we still have a chance, a very good chance. The other two regiments might not be holding as well as we are but that only means that our allies will have an easier time coming to save us than the others, once the cavalry arrives we can turn this fight around.

"err, feels like we are fighting this whole dang planet or sometin." The old man wheezed. Anthony quickly decided to keep the fact that they were to himself.

Raising to fire at where he hoped more militants would be across the street Anthony caught a glance of the commissar. The man charged forward ,a power-sword in hand, towards a room that a group of militants had fortified and were guarding with their lives. Fire darted all around the commissar but he dodged it placed himself against the wall that the militants had concealed themselves behind and instead of darting for the door they were firing out of used the sword to cut through the wall. Anthony lost sight of the commissar then but soon several dismembered militants started to fly out of the room, while the behavior of the other guardsmen suggested that the remainders were already dead.

"Our commissar is having a good time." Anthony said ducking back down behind a wall in the room he and several others were trapped in.

"don't let his helping the men act fool you, that man is as cruel as any commissar could be, he just want to have that illusion so he wont end up dying gloriously before the enemy even shows up." The old man complained.

"I don't thin-"Anthony began but was cut off as a rocket detonated in the room splattering him in the face with the remaining gore of the man he had been speaking to. with a glance he could see that everyone else in the room had died as well.

"Damn militants!" Anthony roared sticking his head out and spotting the offending militant. He then raised his rifle and with two quick shots killed the rocketeer. However there were several other militants who spotted Anthony and they immediately returned fire causing him to duck as the wall around him was pounded by auto-gun fire and portions of it reduced to falling rubble. "if I survive I am really going to miss Lurral's attitude, at least she made this interesting."

Taking a risk he glanced around the wall's corner again only to have a militants try to shot him again. "that's it I hate this." He grumbled as he checked to see if his gun was loaded, prepared himself mentally to die and foolishly began to dart across the road. He breathed heavily and only focused on reaching the other side. Gunfire zipped around him, and as it did so he could feel time slow. In awe, he glanced around while he ran. Above he could see militants in mostly destroyed rooms standing in the open firing at him, some being shot themselves. To his right another guardsman tried running across as well only to arch his back and start to collapse. Then in an instant it was over he was inside the building across from the room he had spent an entire hour inside. Looking back he trembled and nearly collapsed. The ground he had been running across was riddled with holes from gunfire and at several points there were small indentations as if a rocket had hit at those spots.

"I-I-I I'm Alive!" Anthony shouted raising his hand triumphantly, just as a small group of militants ran around the corner and spotted him.

"oh gawd!" gunfire sprayed around him as he dove for cover and he quickly began to return fire with his las-rifle. Two enemies died of his fire but still more remained, that is until a frag grenade rolled beneath their feet and detonated.

Then around the corner came the commissar and several other soldiers. The sight of which caused Anthony to cry with relief. "t-thank-you sir…t-that was too close for my tastes." He said, his voice trembling slightly.

"What is wrong soldier?" the commissar asked gruffly.

"Just crossing the street sir."

*****

The sight was too much for the weaker ones, their self-control lost they threw themselves into the warp-cloud and were destroyed. Not that those pathetic beasts of Khorne mattered in the least. But indeed the sight of humans slaughtering humans was glorious, it had begun with simply three regiments all surrounded and ambushed from all sides. Now that battle had changed and the three regiments had reinforcements coming to their aid.

All across the city soldiers fought brutally for small rooms in crumbling buildings, all this damage simply by hand held weapons. Here and there humans formed large groups to protect pockets of aria they controlled, however in the most part where the two opposing sides meet the fighting had become so mixed that literally the mortals were shooting at each other from kitchen to living room in the same apartment. However once those blasted imperial reinforcements arrived the scene would change and the carnage would become something the humans could 'organize' and the slaughter would be spoiled.

"What now? Tell me Tadench, how are we supposed to steal this artifact of yours now with this fleet sitting there, we have but one ship, one!" the ever annoying Kegoth demanded from his mortal summoning room aboard the material ship in which they resided.

"Tzeentch has more complicated and long term plans than this one my friend. Phase two is about to begin, I have friends coming who despite their brutish ways will throw everyone's plan off balance." Tadench told the mortal warrior. _"I truly despise that little thing, if only I did not need him so." _

*****

"Sorry commissar!" Anthony shouted to his commissar, after he had nearly singed the man with his las-rifle. The way this battle was going the commissar and other men like him would be the deciding factor. However, men with powerswords, chainswords or a sword in general were quickly becoming a rare commodity as enemy sharpshooters gunned them down one by one. Anthony lined another shot up towards the opposing room. If they could take that apartment then the 101st would have secured an entire building allowing them to break the chaos of battle and establish a regiment command center. The commissar placed himself next to the door allowing his sword to deal blows to whoever was foolish enough to stick their head or arm out.

"krak them!" the commissar ordered to the guardsmen across the hall with Anthony. Immediately one of the men obeyed rolling a krak grenade into the room. Seconds later an explosion threw dust out of the room and several bodies could be seen lying on the floor, in the very room they had once been defending.

Nearly five hundred guardsmen were now in this single six-story building, they were all crammed inside utilizing it to now attack the buildings around it. they hopped for a good outcome from all of this. Many men prayed for the fate of friends, others prayed for the regiment as a whole. Anthony was not nearly as selfless, he prayed that he would come out alive so he might tell Lurral he was sorry for referring to her as crazy. If anything this was certainly much more crazy.

As many of the men either battled or prayed as they waited for an opportunity to join the battle a vox-officer rushed to the commissar. "commissar the colonel is still missing, but I think we know what aria he was last seen fighting in but reports are coming in it appears that the new battalion has arrived with the reinforcements from command. The Tzar 91st and the Numadian 10th are both coming to break the enemy from behind, it'll take some time they say but if we hold out sir we may turn this battle completely around. They claim that if our regiment holds we'll have taken the city by tomorrow night." The Vox-officer told the commissar.

"Good I think the colonel will like to know that once we find him, until then we need to press any advantage we have, these are militants not fully trained soldiers, break them here and we can push them into oblivion easily." The commissar replied.

*****

"So how long has it been? At least twenty years, I believe the last time I saw you it was just after I became Lord Solar, you were investigating…oh blast it all who were you investigating?" Abraham cheerfully remembered the last time he had seen the inquisitor he had befriended as a child.

"Been so long I don't think I remember, however I do remember that you were going to a wedding." Titonus replied.

"Oh, that silly thing, yes my cousin was marrying some political figure. Blasted system, I work my life away trying to reach a position where I could do some good for the emperor and my relatives sweep in and reap all the rewards of corruption." The Lord Solar grumbled.

"You were always a man of honor and hard work Abraham." Titonus laughed. "Well when you weren't causing hell for your superiors that is." In reply the old Lord laughed again.

"You wouldn't believe the boring snobs I answer to, to them battles and reality are just un-interesting details to be ignored, now their next meal that is something to fuss over! I've been working hard to get them a little gift for their next 'meal', and ork head instead of that blasted stuff they call food, emperor forgive me if you knew the stuff I did to those people and got away with." Abraham Chesknov, honored Lord Solar and champion of many battles confessed. "I don't know at times it seems like it's the imperial 'household' that poses more of a threat to the imperial faith than any xeno could ever be."

"Sounds to me like your tired my friend, too many years placing yourself between the less respectable high lords and the men you value so much." Titonus observed, while rubbing the bandages that covered his burns.

"That's right, it's just I started as nothing more than a private and made Lord Solar, me a nobody of the galaxy a Lord Solar, I owe it to these men. However, I also think it is this planet that is getting to me. Last time I was here things weren't as cut and dry as they are right now." The aging lord agreed.

"Really? I never would have guessed that you would have been to this planet." Titonus asked, now intrigued by the possible history of cultism this planet has had.

"I don't think you would have ever noticed what happened here, you would have still been an interrogator. You know way, way back when I was only a general. I was a attached to a regiment sized force by ecclesiarch and sent to this place for some 'violent purging', there was a family here that had gained a reputation as secret arms dealers for blood god cults. Trying to end the cults by cutting off their arms we were told that the family was a chaos cult in of itself, I personally participated to see to the cults end myself. So many good men found their lives wasted, and a great many members of the imperial cult found themselves being killed simply because one family member had decided to sell arms to whomever he could. If anyone in that family survived I feel sorry for them, and I only hope that they are with the emperor they so rightfully deserve to see."

"I wouldn't think like that my friend, they all died either for the emperor's glory or for the chaos they truly served, thinking in any other way leads to morally unsafe decisions." Titonus replied.

"Well anyway, how in the saint of healing's name did you end up with half your head bandaged? I'm sorry I hadn't asked earlier." The Lord Solar quickly changed the subject.

*****

"Report!" Lunamaria roared to her support staff.

"Enemy is beginning to break into the city, enemy regiments two and three are estimated to be at one quarter strength, enemy regiment one is still above half strength. Enemy armored regiment and mechanized infantry are ten minutes away from reaching the battle aria." One of the technicians reported as instructed.

"Apartment complexes are reinforced, 12 shredder turret nodes have been constructed, a total of 48 turrets are now in the aria. In battlefield center, the secret shrine has a full defensive complement the obelisk of light is twelve minutes away from activation. The old library now has a full contingent of shadows and they are awaiting instructions." Another updated.

"I'd like to see the Mydoiyans family put up a better defense than you are mam." One technician complimented, unnecessarily.

"Shut up and get back to work!" Lunamaria growled, she couldn't stand how undedicated to victory these fools were. "Victory at any cost, we fear not defeat, shame or death, we only fear that we should not claim victory for the brotherhood."

"For the brotherhood!" the others in the chamber shouted in response.

*****

He stalked the street lined up with his brethren he would fight to the last with them. He had watched all the videos he knew the evil which was the imperium, he knew that the light of the sacred crystal would bring purity and freedom from the terrors of the warp, and he would do whatever it took to free all of humanity.

"die heretics!" a voice declared. Causing the militant to turn. Seeing the coming imperial armor the militant did the one think he knew, he fired his gun blindly at the vehicle, hoping to kill the driver. In a instant though he was gone, las-fire tore his flesh apart casting him into the fate he had chosen for his soul. But in a Nod battlefield a single militant is worthless and quickly twenty others took his place to die against the advance of the imperial armored-infantry regiments.

*****

"they're here! They're finally here the fucking basterds! What in the warp took you so long!" a soldier shouted cheerfully as the first of the imperial chimera turned down the street swiftly putting numerous militants to death.

"Thank the emperor…this is no place for me to die." Anthony sighed as he leaned against a wall. Non-stop fighting and numerous close calls had exhausted him.

"I feel sorry for you kid, you've got one of those former 181st as your C.O. and by the looks of it she's a bitch." A fellow soldier joked pointing to the men who were getting out of the chimera. In the street below the men lined up and a woman wearing a helmet with a black visor and long black hair stalked in front of what Anthony hoped was not going to be his unit. Anthony watched in fascinated horror as one soldier bent down to remove his helmet. As the man did this the officer pulled a las-pistol out of her belt and fired a shot where the man's head had just been a moment before, causing him to panic and throw himself to the ground.

The officer then turned to the building that the commissar had established as the regiment HQ. "I am sergeant Sheena, reporting for field duty Sir's. may I inquire where this new soldier for my unit is Sir. Private Anthony Chesknov." The woman shouted to the building.

"I'm dead…oh, emperor above why did you have to torture me?" Anthony whined before gathering himself up to go face his new C.O.


	6. friends? foes?

**Friends? Foes?**

They gathered around a circular table, dim lighting keeping their faces mostly concealed as to keep others from reading their expressions. Each of them had a file laid out in front of them.

"So he left us and took his fanatics with him. That's to our benefit; we can now focus on the true issue at hand." One of the female members began.

"yes he did, however he also took with him the only item that can prevent our extinction, he's doomed us." A member from across the table countered.

"how did he leave? How in hell did he build a ship like that?" someone else demanded.

"shut it, this behavior is not suiting the most powerful leaders of the world. We all know that it is already done. Why else would be building our own force to send after him? Now do we know how the engine of his ship worked?" the leader of the gathered members demanded.

"It was the Threshold Tower, somehow they had stolen data out of it and used that data to create an engine that would fire using the tower propelling themselves to their destination, however their technology is more advanced than ours, we can only assume that not only did he use the tower to launch his ship, but it might have made it possible to further propel their ship without need of contact with the tower. the technology we have now, our scientists have only made it possible for our first ever space fleet to travel to one world before returning to the tower." The director of science told the grouped leaders.

"So what you are saying is that if we go after him he might still escape with it?" a female voice demanded.

"Well if we don't try, he still wins doesn't he?" another softly countered.

Deep laughter broke out from the entrance to the chamber. "this is why commanders hate the bearcatic red tape you argue whether or not it is best to just turn over and die or not. Soldiers already know that you must always try. Sirs and madams my forces are already prepared, and the lead two organizations have already contributed a majority of their resources."

"Commander Jerico Ashta, you will refrain from speaking in a meeting of the council of directors!" one of the directors snapped at the man who had entered from the shadowy doorway.

"Jerico Ashta, perhaps you are humanities last hope, commander you shall be the first of our commanders to ever leave earth, however I wish to remind you, earth comes first, no matter what you encounter out their we must assume that the enemy has encountered it first." One of the directors instructed the tall young commander. Jerico simply smiled lopsidedly showing a gleam in his miss matched eyes, one green, one blue.

"The enemy? I never thought that only after a year you would all drop into political correctness, his name is Kane. And I perfectly understand what he is capable of."

*****

"Ah, you finally arrived, we were wondering where the new unit was." The Commissar told sheena as he, dragging Anthony in tow, steeped into the now imperial controlled street.

"Sorry sir as per special orders our group was held at the back of the fleet, that is until command realized that our regiment was already on planet." Sheena replied, while giving the commissar a crisp salute.

"understood, Anthony, this is now your unit, Sheena this is Anthony, I think you would like him, he seems to whine to much but if you break him of that you've got a perfect soldier." The Commissar said with a smile before leaving.

Once the commissar was gone Sheena turned her attention towards Anthony. Up close Sheena was just as frightening as before, he shades were so dark one could only just make out that she even had eyes behind them but reading the expression was impossible. Anthony could also make out the obviously used saber hilted at her side, and based of the expression on her lips she seemed ready to use it on anyone who made her upset.

"so you're private Anthony?" she demanded with a scowl.

"Y-yes mam! I mean Sir…I mean sergeant Sheena!" Anthony stammered.

"you're disgusting! Get in line!" she ordered Anthony with a wave of her hand. Once Anthony took place in line the C.O. pulled a las-pistol out from her belt and marched down the line. "I know today is my first day ever seeing any of you, today is your first day seeing the person who is going to be in command of you for all of your life, or all of hers. But know this I am ordering you all to live, to fight for the emperor. I do not accept cowardness, I do not accept failure, and I most certainly do not accept improper behavior!" she roared, while doing so she placed the pistol to Anthony's head. "got that?" she calmly asked.

"y-y-yes."

"Good."

*****

"So where is Lurral?"

"What?"

"That girl of yours the spy or whatever the hell she is, former actress, former imperial guard commando, former con-artiest, former…"

"Enough, she decided that she wanted to visit the guard. That side of her still exists in quite a strong way, she's too smart to get caught in the fighting, but they way this is going I figured having her there would at least inform me about the abilities of these heretics to infiltrate the guard, that is, if they can infiltrate the guard."

"I see."

*****

"We will be transmitting in twelve minutes, after that I would advise you to move to the external command center, confessor Lunimaria." One of the several technicians informed the confessor.

"Shut it, I already know the plan, I made it didn't i?" Lunimaria growled. _Amazing am I really like this? _She thought, am_ I truly this well suited to command or am I simply fooling myself to the destiny that was laid out to me? _

"mam, enemy forces have moved slower than anticipated, time table altered for localized battles, according to reports cities across the world are now being destroyed by orbital bombardment ahead of established schedule by five minutes general effect on the master plan of the prophet is a .00025 percent alteration in time." A technician informed from a command council.

"Amazing, Kane truly is blessed of god, his knowledge surpasses any man." Lunimaria mused as she looked at the tactical screen while the data changed ever so slightly in order to account for the slight deviation in the master plan.

"We'll go ahead of schedule; I want to transmit the message now!" Lunimaria commanded.

"Yes sister!" the men in the room responded.

*****

"Now our mission is a simple one, we are going to move into the apartment region of this city with the rest of the regiment. Understood?" Sheena demanded of the men.

"Yes mam." The replied in near perfect unison.

"You're all pathetic." Sheena growled under her breath.

Suddenly there was a loud noise as all the televisions and nearly every vox in the city simultaneously switched on. The televisions presented an image of a woman standing before the red symbol of Nod.

"I am confessor Lunimaria of the brotherhood of Nod. The planet of Luxodia does not recognize the state known as the imperium of man and will not acknowledge the tyrannical rule of its upper class elate. We demand the removal of all forces that are of this imperium. We also deny the authority of the imperial ecclesiarch and insist that all ecclesiarch be removed from this planet or killed. If these demands are not meet then our forces will not be hesitant to forcefully remove or kill all of your forces. That is all."

*****

"What kind of farce is this?" the Lord solar, Abraham Chesknov, demanded as he watched the video feed.

"Well it would seem that this is an open declaration of war against the imperium. It's quite obvious to see what their true intent is, all one has to do is think logically." Titonas claimed calmly from behind the Lord Solar.

"Alright, since I am a limited man who only understands war and that which relates to war what are they doing Titonas?" Lord Chesknov demanded.

"Ah, Abraham is it not obvious. They want to set this entire sector ablaze with hate." Titonas sighed, a calm look on his face, and a smile.

Borus, Titonas's interrogator stepped towards his long time master. "How-How are they going to set the sector ablaze with hate?" Borus asked.

"Simple, they are going to play a card our enemies have never played ever before. They are going to show our people a fake utopia and then let us burn it to the ground, thus making it appear as though we are the ones enslaving the galaxy to chaos and fear." Titonas answered a hint of amusement in his voice. "I truly must commemorate their leader, I never thought that he would do something like this."

"However, if information about this does not leave the planet…" Abraham began only to allow Titonas to stop him.

"I know, it's a mere gamble, the only way that card may come into effect is if any of them escape this planet, with the proper amount of data and their blasted warp crystal. However it is still a potent weapon." Titonas quickly enlightened the others in the room.

"So, if we don't end it now…"

"Then who knows where it will take us."

*****

"Alright, ten-shun!" Sheena demanded of her men.

_God…Lurral, if only you were here_ Anthony bitterly thought to himself.

"we are now entering into the apartment complex region of the city, enemy defenses here will be tighter than before but they will also be more established allowing us to draw up battle lines and take them out, dirty tricks will not work on our forces here. This time it's the guard's turn!"


	7. guard's turn

**Guards turn**

"move now!" an officer shouted as more men ran down the devastated street. "Why in hell are these fanatics guarding that little building so fiercely?" the officer asked himself as more men charged forward only to face against heavily armed and motivated militants.

"Tanks coming in now!" a voice over the vox announced and soon enough a leman russ tank began to roll down the street quickly crushing opposition. Several other tanks soon followed it.

"and what is with that black obelisk down there? It just is sitting there perhaps that is some sort of religious point for them; well mother always said that the emperor wanted me to tear heretics down." The officer mused as the tanks passed him allowing his force to move forward.

"for the emperor!" some of the soldiers shouted as the charged the slowly dwindling enemy. This cry made the officer smile as more heretics died under las-fire.

"In the name of Kane we will hold!" a voice broke above the din of battle. The officer quickly located the source of the voice, another one of the black armored leaders. "let the purifying light of Kane bring an end to this!"

"Die heretic and end your worthless babbling!" the officer replied.

"Behold your first and last glimpse of the obelisk of light!" the enemy leader shouted gesturing towards the large black spire behind him before a tank round destroyed him.

"Obelisk of light, what the hell is wrong with these people?" the officer muttered, before noticing a change in the obelisk. "What the hell it's top is glowing!"

Then the obelisk fired. A red beam of light swept through the imperial lines on the devastated roadway, slicing numerous men and the lead tank in half.

Two tanks behind the lead quickly advanced firing rounds at the obelisk but doing nearly no damage to the structure. "god emperor help us." The officer prayed as the obelisk charged for a second shot. Then it fired, the beam cut through the officer in a instant severing his head from his body before sweeping through the imperial lines and killing many more men and another one of the tanks.

*****

"It is as the data directed confessor, enemy forces have encountered the obelisk as the specified point and are now held. We apologize for the delay in obelisk activation charging was less effective than we had hoped." One of the technicians informed Lunimaria.

"The data is amazing, it's more precise than anything the imperial computers could have computed, however I still don't trust this machine spirit, I mean how is LEGION supposed to manage the entire Nod network?" a technician asked another thinking Lunimaria would not notice.

"He will work! He was Kane's creation, Kane's ultimate child. They say that it was LEGION who found it best to bring the truth here to use, so be thankful that we no longer live in fear as the imperium would have us and understand that we are freed because this 'questionable' machine are you call him!" Lunimaria shouted as she slapped the officer numerous times.

*****

_Lurral, oh god Lurral what should I put in my letter, well one I'd put that I freaking hate shredder turrets. Cheep bastereds are the only people who would use these. Automated weapons that fire round buckshot larger than bolter rounds. However these things are pretty weak otherwise, so I guess I shouldn't complain I mean I should have known that joining the imperial guard would have been difficult. However I never thought that just being away from you would have made this so uninteresting. I mean I miss the way you make grim situations seem well amazing. Lurral I really…_

"hay stop staring at that blank piece of paper and get the hell over here! Or do you want the sergeant to come over here and threaten us?" a soldier, Tommy, demanded from Anthony.

"Sorry!" the former pilot replied before putting the paper away and crawling over to Tommy's position. "so what is our situation."

"they've one tank outside, what they call a scorpion, also they have several militants and a unit of strange armored men who appear to be carrying heavy flamers." Tommy replied.

_Why…why me? _"right well then the flamers are more of a problem than the tank, we'll have to kill them first. After that I guess we will take the tank out next." Anthony suggested.

"Hmm, good suggestion, but I ask you why not kill them all at once?" a voice asked from behind the two crouching soldiers. Both quickly turned to see whom had spoken.

"S-Sheena!" Anthony gasped.

"errrr…"

"I-I mean Sergeant Sheena mam!" Anthony quickly corrected and snapped a salute.

"We're in the middle of a battle." She then growled.

"Yes mam, we know."

"Obviously you don't! you do not identify your commander by saluting or using hand gestures that will give away your commander to the enemy!" she nearly shouted at the two.

"Sorry mam!"

"errr…w-we attack in one half hour."

*****

"So boring! This is so damn boring! Why did they have to organize it… it was so wonderful at first, if I could have taken form on this planet I could have easily taken the artifact. The four would have been so pleased with me, now what. I couldn't steal it from that other world, and these mortal idiots are too impatient and stupid to understand." Tadench whined as he watched the battle from afar.

"Tadench, Tadench you sniveling coward show yourself!" a voice roared through the warp.

"ah, if only I could offer these idiots up to the gods." Tadench sighed before accepting the mortal's sacrifices and coming to the side of the iron warriors chaoslord, well whatever those worthless mortals called themselves inside the iron warriors faction.

*****

"What? What do you mean that one fourth of the Demican 51st has been eliminated? And what the hell happened to the commander of the tank support we gave them?" Lord Solar Chesknov demanded of the information teams aboard his ship.

"milord, an enemy structure in the aria contains a laser weapon stronger than the majority of field used beam weaponry. And the structures armor is impressive. Our forces are also trapped engaging elite forces in the aria and support forces are currently unable to surround the enemy." A tech-priest informed.

"What kind of organization are these heretics? Open defiance, battling the imperial guard in ways that make regular chaos cultists seem like un-rulely mobs. Now a weapons infrastructure?" Chesknov questioned to himself, as he watched pic-footage of the strange tower that fired rays of light capable of slicing tanks and men into pieces.

Titonas smiled at his long time friend. "It's quite simple, really the logic behind these people is similar to our own. They are really just a twisted parody of the imperium if you think of it. By combining religious and militaristic items they have created a weapon much similar to some of our own. Both a rally point and a weapon of mass death. However I would like to point out the structure beside the enemy weapon. If I were to pick a strategic point it would not have been here, but if my honor was based on something that the enemy might take…" he let his thought trail off, leaving room for the others to speculate.

"Damn, if we realized that sooner we could have used it to our advantage."

*****

"Another one dead. That makes the seventh patrol so far. Mam, do you really think that this is working…the overall strategy I mean. Just look at it, the enemy has that weird super weapon in the center lines and we don't have our artillery in place to hit it yet. Without our forces progressing in the center it seems like the enemy is just going to slowly cut down our numbers." A soldier complained to Sheena who in turn delivered a kick to his stomach.

"Weak minded fool. How dare you insult imperial artillery! They are in range; command simply wants our forces to secure the future flanks of the coming portion of this battle! Errr, not only am I in command of fresh meat but ignorant fresh meat." Sheena ranted; it seemed to Anthony that she liked to rant at her men. Perhaps it's to compensate for something.

"But mam, if that's true why not bomb the hell out of that place?" Anthony asked, sure it was stupid he figured but someone needed to stand up to Sheena.

"Stand down men…right now we have more important tasks, so shut up…or I'll have you be point man for the rest of the mission." Sheena threatened.

Anthony leaned back where he had been sitting. _How long since we encountered that first group at least a day…and still we don't trust that woman. I mean if it wasn't for her then half of us would have died in that first firefight._

Anthony thought of the battle. The plan was perfect they, as per Sheena's instructions used a melta blast to signal the attack and fired support rounds into the fuel tanks of the flamer armed troopers causing many of them to explode. In fact only one did not explode. That one had then turned its attention on the unit. And began to spray it's cruel flames, fortunately thought Sheena quickly down him by leaping over the spray of his flame and using a old cavalry sword to slice the man in half. From there the C.O. had thrown herself into the remaining militants and in a dance-like beauty cut them all down singlehandedly.

"And yet here we are still questioning her." Anthony mused to himself, catching the attention of another soldier.

"Oh, shut up. This bitch is shadier than any cultist I've seen in my life." the other complained.

"And how many cultists have you spoken to in your life?" Antony countered.

"god kid you don't know a thing." The soldier sighed. "you've got to realize that officers are a dime a dozen, they always are the ones who die valiantly…even when the enemy is miles away. So we replace this bitch with some new one. Hopefully the new C.O. will be nicer."

"You'd never." Anthony began but stopped.

"Now we wouldn't but these heretics would certainly." The soldier laughed, causing Anthony to scowl. _Well aren't I a proud imperial guard's man Lurral, now I'm one with the guys who kill their own C.O.s for the heck of it. _

"I need to go." Anthony sighed, grabbing his rifle and leaving the room.

*****

"mam, left flank is reporting increased enemy pressure. Should we counter by altering our reinforcement strategy?" A tactician asked Lunimaria.

"Why bother, this battle is nearly over. Once we lose the city the prophet will choose our fates." Lunimaria countered, in reality thought she did not know what to do. _If only a real commander where here, then these bastereds would get the real justice due to them_

*****

"our right flank has passed the library check point. Left flank is still locked and enemy resistance is stiffening. Center flank is still locked with the enemy superstructure." A officer reported.

"right move our right flank to cut off enemy reinforcements…" Chesknov began only to be cut short by a officers panicked voice.

"enemy forces have appeared behind main battle line on right flank, massive casualties already reported. Sir they were waiting."

"damn who are we facing."

*****

"Library forces have begun their assault. Enemy casualties are higher than anticipated." A technician informed Lunimaria.

"oh, right, I forgot about them. Anyway, a real commander would easily be able to counteract this move so I doubt the enemy will take long. But while we have the chance we might as well engage the forces we've managed to temporarily cut off." Lunimaria sighed. _I have no right commanding this, it might be the prophet's will for me to be here but he never gave me the right to command._

Lunimaria stood slowly from her command chair. "listen, I want a complete break down of command. This city will fall under the command of all confessors based off of district. Move our best confessor outside of myself to the right flank and then place all confessors in direct control of the operations. We'll let the enemy face a hundred tactical minds, they will not face mine alone." _There that should make things right, no I am not claiming authority from the prophet for myself._

*****

"S-sergeant? Sergeant? Sergeant!" Anthony shouted as he walked about the burned out apartment complex the squad used for a camp. _Man this building seems so familiar. _

"Hay, fresh meat, the Sergeant is upstairs. She's 'observing' from above." A soldier irritably told Anthony.

"thanks Zack."

"so are you in, with Butch's plan I mean?"

"Butch?"

"harrr…the medic?"

"we have a medic."

"emperor above are you stupid. Even you should know him by now. I mean he was the one who was talking to you a few minutes ago…about doing you know what." The soldier hinted to Anthony.

"oh, excuse me but it is important that I talk to the Sergeant. I've got another enemy squad confirmed." Anthony excused himself. As he walked up towards where the Sergeant was Anthony heaved a sigh and wrapped his arms behind his head.

_What kind of war is this Lurral? Since we broke through to the complexes the whole thing has been squad on squad battling with neither side willing to go all out. According to command enemy resistance has stiffened here. If you ask me we just can't find the bastereds. Well enough about me how are you…nah that wouldn't get her attention. Maybe, things are incredible here, the fighting is intense you never know where a enemy might show up. I miss you and wish you were here…what am I crazy. _Anthony sighed again and finally reached the room Sergeant Sheena had taken as her own. _God why does everything seem so familiar?_

"S-Sergeant are you here?" Anthony asked slowly opening the door. Immediately following his brave act a las-round went over his shoulder causing him to duck instinctively.

"Grow a frigging spine why don't you." Sheena demanded intently listening to a head set connected to the unit vox.

"repeat, Ozzi 101st are to remove all non-engaged units to support the Demican 51st, Demican 51st regiment is reported as of being relatively surrounded by enemy forces and in immediate need of support." Sheena scowled for a moment before ripping the head set off and throwing it across the room.

"To hell with them!" Sheena growled.

"maybe-maybe I should just leave you Sergeant." Anthony suggested.

"No come in take a seat. Just stay away from the room's center and the outer edge of the building and the floor won't crumble." Sheena insisted as she went to the bunt out remains of what must have once been a kitchen. "oh I know I saw what I was looking for over here…c'mon these heretics need some way to…ah ha!"

Anthony tried to take a look at whatever Sheena was interesting herself in but a broken counter blocked his view. "Private Chesknov could you toss me that canister. The one by the vox-caster." Sheena asked in a polite tone, something which caught Anthony completely off guard.

"Yes mam." He swiftly replied lifting a large container and throwing it to the Sergeant. Immediately her hand reached up and caught the thrown canister and several seconds latter Anthony could hear the sound of flowing liquid followed by several loud gulps.

"Ah, that's the spot. **Hick! **Oh, looks like it's been too long my special friend." Sheena declared loudly her voice starting to slur.

"Umm, sergeant Sheena. W-what are you doing?" Anthony asked, easily recognizing the sounds of drunkenness.

"What does it look like? I'm celebrating the fact that command decided to screw us and leave us without support!" Sheena shouted in reply before the sounds of more loud gulps filled the room.

"what?" Anthony sighed.

Finally Sheena stood in one hand she held a cracked mug with a heart on it's side, in the other the container that Anthony had thrown to her. The visible part of her face now slightly discolored by her drunken state. "oh, yea t-they j-**hick**-just decided to fuck us over. They **hick **think that just by moving a few men to save summm…some wimpy no good half-hearted NO FUCKING BRAINS TWO TIMMING GUARD REGIMENT THAT THEY CAN WIN!" Sheena began shouting and cursing before throwing herself to the ground smiling at the mug with a heart on it.

"umm, sergeant where did you get that mug?" Anthony asked remembering Lurral with a similar mug.

"found it on the ground by a bunch of other broken ones over there. Why do you want a drink from **IT**." Sheena asked before giggling outlandishly.

_Great my sergeant gets herself drunk whenever she gets mad…what the hell am I going to do? _Anthony thought before answering. "no it's just that Lurral had a mug like that."

"oh, is that the name of your girlfriend? Hugh, hugh, lover boyyyy…" Sheena tried to tease before her drunken state stopped her.

"n-no Lurral…Lurral's not my girlfrie…"

"the way you stare at a blank piece of paper makes me think that she must be great in bed, so what's she like in bed hugh, hugh?" Sheena asserted, stopping Anthony mid word.

"I just said she's not my girlfriend."

"hugh, it doesn't matter anyway." Sheena sighed. "we're all gonna die anyway, one way or another I guess so…" Sheena stopped and sighed closing her eyes as she lay next to Anthony.

_I can't take this. _"sergeant Sheena the other men in the unit…"

"I already know, in fact I know more than you, but I doesn't matter, if I'm going to lead I need them to fear and respect me. You already do I can see that, but they don't. do you know why I can't take off my helmet? It's because a head injury I got a few years ago. Or so that's what the doctors say, apparently my skull is too soft because of it, and there may or may not be some mental instability. Not that it matters everyone is instable in one way or another, well everyone but the emperor. And you know what I don't…don't…care…I want to say…" Sheena ranted as she faded into unconsciousness.

_She knows oh Lurral what the hell did I get into?_

*****

AUTHOR'S NOTE: NOT MY BEST WORK...OH AND SINCE EVERYONE IS ADDICTED TO DOING THIS...I DISCLAIM OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU DO WHERE YOU SAY YOU DON'T DO THINK OR OWN ANYTHING OR WHATEVER YOU MORTALS DO.


	8. children of faith

**Children of faith**

"The situation is degrading. It's only a matter of time before these imperial guard break through our defense." A technician whispered to another.

"Yes, we know that but if Lunimaria only wants to delegate reinforcements then that is what we do until a superior takes command." Another countered.

"Yes, but why are they not here? This is where the enemy of the prophet is, why haven't we heard from Kane? Where is…" a bullet rang out and the questioning technician quickly slumped to the floor.

"NO ONE QUESTIONS THE PROPHET, IF HE CHOOSES TO REMAIN AT TEMPLE PRIME FOR THE TIME LET HIM, his sacred tasks are more important than anything you could ever do!" Lunimaria told the men with a frown.

*****

"alright, men today we're screwed, however, our mission stays the same! we are to push as deep into enemy territory as possible." Sheena told her lined unit in the most formal tone possible.

"hehe, funny sergeant." A man chuckled, receiving a las-round over both his shoulders.

"Shut up Jenkins! Now as I was saying, our situation truly is a grim one. The enemy has surrounded our position with light ground forces. Supply has been cut off due to the low status of our strategic value and…"

"and you're a poor sergeant." A man cut in causing Sheena to clench her fist but surprisingly she controlled her habit to shoot at the offender.

"up until this point I haven't gained any of the trust or respect that a leader deserves, and it is my intention to earn it. That is why, against my better judgment tomorrow we're breaking out. We're going to break the enemy encirclement of our personal position and regroup with what remains of the engaging 101st." Sheena declared.

"What? So no more of this suicidal beyond the front lines crap…man that's rare coming from someone of the 181st." the medic, Butch insisted.

"Please, I really don't want to kill our only medical officer." Sheena sneered.

_God-emperor please…please tell me this is a nightmare? I mean seriously! Why do I have the unit full of psychopathic trigger happy monsters?_ Anthony thought as he watched the miniature power struggle between the medic and sergeant.

"ummm, mam, might you inform us about the plan for breaking through. Being the coward I am I'd probably prefer to starve here but if it's a good plan…" Anthony said, attempting to give his Sergeant an opening to instruct the troops, and hopefully gain their support.

"it is a adequate plan private. Even you can enjoy the relative safety and ease of this op. all we are going to do is building hop every six hours gradually towards our forces until we have a strait shoot to one of our forward positions. Alright, since that is the plan in general I want you all to prepare adequately. Dismissed." Sheena bluntly explained, before marching off.

"she's really turned around, too bad most of us want her dead still." Tommy whispered to Anthony.

*****

"What do you mean they took out a whole squad in ten seconds?"

"Sir, no not they, he…it was one guy, one emperor damned guy! I've never seen someone that good." The survivor told his officer, panic written on his features.

"We'll where is this basterd, we'll kill him now!"

"We were at point beta sir!"

"Point beta, that's too close to here, how the hell did they get past the men at points iota and sigma?" to officer demanded picking up his rifle, which all of his men did after him.

"Simple, we killed all of them…every last one of you. Did you really think you could defeat a champion of the prophet?" A voice rang out from the buildings above the makeshift camp that served as command for the company.

"Oh, no, emperor no!"

"Brothers, make them suffer!"

*****

"Damn, you I'll kill you if its…"

"Shut up." Xavior scoffed at the dying officer as he snapped the man's neck.

Aggressive and loyal to a fault, Xavior could have been one of the top ranking confessors in the entirety of Nod if he simply had some tactical sense. Instead he made up for his lack of large scale strategic ability by completely destroying anything that opposed the prophet, it had been like that on earth, and now it was like that here on this planet.

"Confessor, t-t-the prophet has requested your presence in the command reckoner!" a militant called to the confessor. Xavior span I place and began to march towards his command vehicle. All around him was the scene of the previous engagement; ten militant bodies were clumped together while over forty imperial guard corpses lay sprawled about where they had died.

"tsk, why did this imperium have to be my enemy, they don't have soldiers, they barely have militants." Xavior growled as he stepped into the glorious presence of the prophet.

"You seem to have lost patience my child. One with such capability to fervently kill the un-faithful should understand that the weak are always the first sacrificed." The intelligent voice of Kane spoke.

"Ah, Kane forgive me!" Xavior begged throwing himself to the ground.

Although it was a mere holographic projection of the prophet it's light shone brighter filled with the man's charisma and intellect making the entire chamber seem ever so much brighter.

"there is too little for me to forgive, your faith is near perfect my child. Though your patience is all that needs adjusting. However for now I turn to you for a particular task. One that I can not give to Lunimaria." The great prophet assured his servant.

"I exist solely for the will of my god." Xavior told his lord.

"good, then I wish for you to begin being the pawn for the first stage of my plan. Child today the destiny of man kind shall begin to come into the fold of the brotherhood. My orders are simple, press your attack, eliminate the enemy's left flank main command center." Kane instructed his devoted child.

"Yes, in your name I obey!"

*****

"so it appears as thought the enemy is desperately trying to break out, their commander either has died, relocated, or simply given up command and has now placed everything in the hands of his subordinates. Is that about the best way to summarize, Lord Solar?" Titonas Hond asked the old war man.

"Yes, I always felt that you would make a fine military man Titnoas, why in hell did you go the way you did? But besides that, since I am flooding the city with forces these heretics should break fairly easily once their momentum stops, that is if we stop their momentum. They still have the entire planet at their disposal." Abraham Chesknov informed his shadowy inquisition friend.

"You're right about the momentum and supply issue we currently face with this enemy. But I have faith in your forces and in the power of the Imperium. I'll let you loose sleep over this war." Titonas countered before leaving.

"Damn, why couldn't I have been a little more self confident like you Titonas?"

*****

"oh, why do these mortal act this way?" Tadench whined as he watched yet another worthless exchange between human mortals every word balanced as to follow an unspoken set of rules.

However Tadench had learned a long time ago that even the warp has rules, though you could be like Tzeench or Nurgle and use them to your advantage, or you could be like Khorne and Slanesh and simply disregard them as a significant factor and try to muscle through them.

"and being a servant and not one of the masters means that I need to follow even more rules if I wish to continue existing, and if I ever wish to break out from the warp into the materium. " Tadench sighed telepathically. "but, once my mission is complete then…then deamons can enter and leave the materium as they please!"

*****

"this is twelve we have secured final floor, waiting for confirmation to travel to next building." A voice told Sheena over the vox.

"Right, we're almost there I'd say another two buildings then we'll be just ahead of our left flank HQ. See boys just follow me and I'll keep you all alive." She lectured.

"Is the Sergeant trying to compensate for shooting at us or something, I mean this is creepy different from what she normally seems like." One of the men beside Anthony whispered.

"I'm not sure about all the details but what I think is it, is that she's worried that we'll run out of supplies as the enemy is pushing us back." Anthony suggested.

"Don't think that it's so complicated. I simply want our unit to have allies at our backs." Sheena injected, while observing the next building through her rifle scope.

"So what do you want to do when we get back?" the other soldier asked Anthony.

"Simple, lie down and write my stupid letter." Anthony replied with a smile.

"Now!" Sheena ordered and the unit began to quickly file out of the building they currently inhabited and rushed towards the next on their list.

*****

"Mission op four, target zone three clicks away! Estimated enemy strength four units of militants." A soldier shouted as the transport rushed down the city streets.

"All men unload!" the unit leader shouted to the men under his command. He had lead many of them for years, known a couple of them since childhood and watched as friends died with them.

"Right!" they all replied as they quickly exited the vehicle, with a short march they could possibly catch the enemy off guard. The men quickly did the various maneuvers that were by now ingrained into their psychologies checking every possible opening for attack and professionally moving down the streets of the now ruined city

"all men, break formation and pass through the buildings to our left, we'll circle around and catch our enemy on the flank." The officer ordered. His order immediately followed by his men who then dashed into the buildings to the side.

_There is still a large buffer zone between my unit and where the enemy is supposed to be, but caution always is a guardsman's best friend. _The officer thought.

After several minutes of slowly advancing thought the buildings the men seemed agitated, extremely so. "sir there is something in here. I know it, we can't see anything but the blurs the half-seen stuff makes me think that there is some sort of Deamon here!" a man blurted as he passed by the commander.

"Grow some guts soldier!" the officer replied. "We haven't seen any deamons on this planet before otherwise I think the inquisition would exterminate our asses the moment anyone sees one."

"Y-yea but that doesn't mean there might be one in this building right now." Another soldier said over a gulp.

"Get your spines together, we've been fighting for days strait I understand if you are tired, but that does not permit this type of –unbecoming behavior, we are servants of the emperor! We have his divine protection and thus we'll kill any heretic we see."

"Well then how about an enemy you can't see? One of the shadow?" a cold smooth voice came from behind the officer as a blade struck through his chest.

"What in he…"the commanding officer began before dropping dead to the floor. The killer then seemed to materialize from behind his slain victom in one hand the offending sword which had taken the life of C.O. in the other an autogun.

"basterd!" a soldier shouted raising his las-rifle, only to have his head suddenly removed from his shoulders.

"What in hell!" a soldier gasped before a bullet struck him in the head.

"Shit! fire!" another shouted raising his weapon with his fellows before a number of them swiftly died as swords and gun rounds tore them apart. Within a few short moments fire from unseen enemies had killed nearly every single guardsman in the entire unit.

"Brothers regroup." The voice that had killed the imperial officer said, little change from the soft sly voice before.

"It was excellent brother; these men are much more entertaining than that of the GDI variety." Another soft voice included.

"We don't have long it is easy to suspect that the others are also engaging, the presence of the shadows will be revealed soon." The leader stated.

"We walk in Kane's shadow brother we have little to fear."

"But they will break the line soon enough, their numbers are starting to dull my sword and their eyes are getting keener."

"We walk in silence!" the group all whispered together before disappearing in order to ensnare and destroy another imperial unit.

*****

"Alright, we should be near our first field HQ, from there it'll be near impossible to get our unit out of any fighting but we'll have allies at our backs and once I jump through a few hoops I can say that the first time I took you lousy bunch out I brought every single one of you back!" Sheena smiled, gauging the woman's personality had become increasingly difficult, she expected the men to be experts, professionals, she wanted them to line up perfectly take all the crap she could through at them and to be four steps ahead of the enemy. But she also seemed to desperately want to befriend the men, to be able to joke and even get drunk with them…well with Anthony at the moment.

"ha, that's true but with how things have been so far, taking out a shredder turret or a heretic squad is nothing compared to our daily line up under you sergeant." One of the men laughed, Sheena scowled then smiled at the man.

_Lurral, I think you should meet my C.O. she's someone I think you would like. She's impossible to gauge, one moment she's by the books or die, the next she's thronging protocol out the door and acting like its one large party. By now about half the men absolutely hate her, while I think thanks to myself half of them actually think she's a good officer. Lurral, personally I don't know what to think of the C.O. she makes me think of how much I've suddenly come to miss you…weird isn't it, we only knew each other for a short time while protecting Titonas but still I-I…_ Anthony sighed as he stopped himself from thinking anymore.

"Kid calm down for once, we're nearly at HQ once their they'll be sending us to the enemy…what I mean kid is that you don't have to be scared, the only thing up ahead are allies." Sheena tried to calm Anthony, not realizing the true reason for his sigh.

"U-ummm…Sergeant, can you repeat that last sentence?" A soldier looking out of an nearby window asked.

"hugh? Wh…oh shit." Sheena gasped looking at the scene before her. The closest buildings to their location had all been completely leveled, and by the appearance they had been leveled with the occupants still inside. All around the ruin and even on top a fierce battle was being waged; on one hand was a huge mass of militants, the other the imperial guard.

"Alright scratch everything I've said til now you losers! This is it, we're joining this fight, if we win I can guess that the enemy will be broken enough that I can get you saps some time off, but until then fight I'll blow a freaking hold in your head!" Sheena shouted in some sort of an attempt at a rally cry.

*****

"This is pathetic! You why are they not all dead already! We have the prophet's blessing! And yet there are still some of them yet breathing, these men's hearts are already closed to the truth kill them or die leaving their dark fears consume all to come after you!" Xavior roared at one of his men.

"By the prophet!" a soldier shouted in response before moving to ensure all of his brothers were doing the same. In full honesty Xavior knew that this battle was going completely as he had hopped, since Kane had personally asked him to press his offensive to its maximum Xavior had pressed his men as hard as he could without breaking their bodies. One key to winning against enemies like these was ensure that your men did not break under physical stress, Nod indoctrination ensured plus the few religious dogmas that Xavior had mastered at delivering at key moments ensured that the men's minds and souls could never break.

Picking up his rifle Xavior laughed at the thought of the prophet's orders. _For my plan to come into fruition I need bodies, I need you to keep killing without hesitation or pause the more that die for the glory of Kane the better…it is in this my child, that the flames or rebellion will take up the entire universe and open the flood gates to enlightenment for all of humanity. _Not that Xavior really needed a purpose to kill infidels, but because the prophet sanctioned his offensive that meant that Xavior could not be held back by anyone.

Suddenly las-fire broke out from a building behind the militant line. "Hmmm, so there are reinforcements back there?" Xavior whispered to himself with a smile. The war crazed confessor drew his blade and began to personally advance towards the new enemy.

*****

"One shot…one friggin shot and all of a sudden this turns to hell!" I say use a grenade or maybe something a bit better. But no what do the whole friggin group of you decide on? Sniping the leader! These are militant maniacs even the sergeant could tell you that…she might have left it to use to begin the engagement but I don't think she would have liked having us all fucking die because of the stupidity of you friggin lot…I'm gonna meet the emperor today and it's all thanks to you! I wanted to live a nice long life, maybe marry someone and have a kid…might never be able to retire from the guard but I could still have a kid and wife, but no you all have to screw me over by getting us all killed!" Anthony ranted as he hid behind a window firing indiscriminately into the ranks of oncoming militants who in turn sprayed gunfire into the building he and the half of the unit he was placed with were hidden in.

As they advanced the militants continued to fire into the building as red clocked militants gathered behind the advancing line carrying rocket launchers on their shoulders.

"Rockets!" one of the imperial guard near Anthony shouted as the red clocked militants opened fire. The barrage from the rockets caused the side of the wall that the half of the unit was hiding behind to collapse.

"Emperor above!" Anthony growled as he picked himself out of the remains of the wall and returned fire. _Sergeant Sheena we could really use an ass saving about now._

As if to answer his mental request Sheena appeared with the half of the unit she had taken, charging into the flank of the enemy they began to battle the unprepared militants killing many of them in seconds. However the Sergeant was soon finding herself far ahead of her men.

_Shouldn't the sergeant have men at her side, what is….wait, she-she took all the men in the unit who want her dead with her…their trying to place her so she will die. _

"Alright, the Sergeant just saved my ass… GUYS WE'RE GONNA CHARGE! WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BE HEROS TODAY LETS SAVE THE DAY AND GO HOME!" Anthony shouted while standing up and beginning to run into the battle.

*****

Step, shoot, slash, step, shoot, shoot again, slash. The process was quite monotonous for Sheena. These militants had little skill but made up for that with incredible spirit. By now Sheena was alone in the midst of these fanatics. It did not bother her, she knew that she had intentionally been cut off by her units 'slow' advance. But this was the only way she could think of to prove herself to the unit. Otherwise they will be challenging her at every turn.

"Heretics!" Sheena growled slashing another opponent across the throat. Sheena continued to advance, in reality she had enough skill to easily keep herself alive in this fight, but she worried about some of her men, she'd fought in situations that Space Maries typically found themselves in and she survived. These men were still green horns, some, namely Anthony were practically picked up off the street.

As she killed another one of the militants Sheena spared a glance behind to see the status of her men. And she nearly froze. A single black armored figure advanced on the several guardsmen under her command firing a rifle he quickly killed four of them in a single two second spray.

"er, no that basterd didn't!" Sheena roared, drawing her Calvary sword into a fresh position and rushing to rejoin her men.

*****

"Ha ha ha ha!" Xavior could feel it, he was alive the pain from the shrapnel that had scraped him, the rush from taking the lives of these puny infidels and of course the adrenaline from the combat. This is what he was given from the prophet, purpose, and reason…reason to kill.

"Death without purpose is worthless…death for the prophet that is service to god!" Xavior shouted as he fired a round into one of the soldiers.

"Die you ass hole!" a feminine voice commanded as a sword knocked Xavior's gun out of his grip. Xavior instinctively distanced himself from the reach of the blade and drew his own. Meanwhile he judged his opponent. She appeared to be a fierce woman, the type the brotherhood would have been proud to be home of. The blade in her hand and her flying black hair both marked her as a swift moving warrior. Her helmet obstructed Xavior's view of her eyes but they were clear enough, they were the eyes of an opponent that would be a worthy kill.

"Ha, so I face a real opponent. I was thinking that I'd have killed several of you 'space marines' before I'd finally face one but it appears that your people don't have to genetically alter all their soldiers to get at least one good one." Xavior mocked, preparing to lock sword with his new obsession, currently the one person he wanted to kill in the prophet's name before dying.

"You killed my men without my permission, I'll kill you, you jack ass." Sheena informed him, little emotion in her voice.

"oh ho ho…yes!" Xavior laughed, before tacking a step forward to swing his blade.

Sheena quickly dodged under the blade and brought her own up to strike the confessor in the chest but he quickly parried. Then she launched her weight forward trying to disrupt his balance but the confessor held his ground. Sheena then tried to spin to catch him in his thigh but with a powerful strike he knocked the Sergeant of her feet. However Sheena quickly recovered, using her hand she performed a back flip landing back in a combat ready stance.

"I'm a veteran of the Ozzi 181st there is no way you can beat me so easy." Sheena calmly stated her focus un-broken.

"And I survived Tib war three, I fought the visitors single handedly, I kept my mind even after those bug heads tried to control me, I killed several enemy commandos, and I even partook in the NORAD raid. Kid there is no way you can beat me." Xavior countered.

"I don't give a crap about heretics!" Sheena countered as she lunged forward with a quick swipe at her opponent's midsection. However Xavior leapt backwards dodging the attack. Then the two began to fight with numerous quick motions the two lashed out against each other parrying and dodging each others attacks.

*****

Cover, at least he was behind cover. Anthony had lead what now seemed to be 'his' portion of the unit in their vicious charge into the confused enemy. But even so with so many guns it didn't take long for the heretics to pin him down. Anthony raised his rifle over the cover made by old building ruins and fired at the advancing heretics. While he fired he watched the scene that was taking place in the distance. He could see both of them, the enemy confessor and his sergeant. Both of them were trying to tearing each other apart with their swords, their battle seemed to be like something from a incredible dance. The two swinging their blade so precisely and dodging the others blade with small movements of their bodies.

"Listen we need to support the Sergeant! Let's move now!" Anthony shouted as loud as possible, before running towards Sheena's position firing at the enemy. _Well Lurral if these idiots I'm stuck with don't get me killed I guess I will._

The fire was intense but after he made it the long distance to cover Anthony thanked the emperor for his prolonged life. "Ha, there's no way I'd be here unless you were watching out for me." He laughed looking back at the ground he had just run across which looked just like the street he had run across when he first fought in the battle for this city. Now it was time for him to sneak up on his target and save the Sergeant. Slowly Anthony crawled, if he could just get close enough then when he had an opening, BAM!

*****

_What is with this… _"Oomph!" Sheena grunted as a kick from her opponent sent her off her feet and onto her back. She quickly tried to force her opponent back with a vicious sword strike but he expertly parried causing her sword to fall next to her head.

"hmph! A worthy kill, once he knows of this, Kane will be pleased!" Xavior shouted preparing to thrust his sword into Sheena's chest.

"Get off my Sergeant!" a small voice ordered from behind before a las-round punched through the confessor's side. Immediately the confessor span in place, preparing to lunge at the one who interfered with his kill. Xavior almost let out a dis-satisfied grunt seeing the small weak man holding the las-rifle.

"Die!" Xavior shouted, as he lifted his blade to strike. In that moment though his body separated the upper half and lower half became disconnected in a gory show as his stomach fell out from his inside.

"I told you, NO ONE KILL'S MY FUCKING MEN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" Sheena roared from behind the dying confessor holding her now dull and broken saber.


	9. CITY 1

**CITY 1**

"Confirmed right flank is broken, enemy forces are pushing deeper into the city. Estimated time until defensive line recreation is six hours. Bringing up estimated positions of new defensive line." A technician informed Lunimaria not that she cared. She had already decided to hold back from commanding this battle. However that didn't mean that these men wouldn't perform their duties to Kane.

"Mistress enemy artillery is confirmed in firing position, central defensive node is within their range. We need a tactic to counter or the point is lost."

"Reconfiguring estimated line positions based on new factor…Confessor data shows that the city will fall if we are not able to successfully eliminate enemy artillery." Another man reported.

"Good, my men needed new target practice, and it seems confessor that you've given me a perfect target." A dark voice came from the shadowed hallway that lead into the command room. All of the staff in the room and Lunimaria all quickly pivoted in place to catch sight of the man who had spoken.

"Confessor Lunimaria, I was sent to relieve you, and to give you a private gift from the prophet." The man in the shadows said, before revealing himself. His black uniform was slightly dirty his collar was raised on one side instead of neat and folded down like the other. His light red hair was long at the back but cut short at the front. And his facial features while still seeming dirty were very distinctive, without a doubt this was Gregory Slavic, the son of the famed Anton Slavic.

"T-the son of Kane's heir!" a man gasped, Lunimaria shoot the man a glare before very courtly introducing herself.

"As you already seem to know, I am confessor Lunimaria, devoted servant of Kane." She said bowing lowly. As she remained bowing her hand over her heart a piece of paper rubbed her chin.

"Oh stop acting so formal woman. I hate girls who act that way; they never seem ready to have fun with me." Gregory Slavic said with a joking tone to his voice.

Snatching the paper that the man was literally rubbing in her face Lunimaria rose from her bow. "And what is this paper, commander Gregor?" she asked calmly.

"Simple, your new orders and of course, some recognition from the prophet himself." Lunimaria's eyes widened in disbelief.

"R-R-Recognition from-from the prophet?" she stuttered.

"Yes…looks like our favorite little girl here really…" Lunimaria ignored the man quickly ripping into the paper envelope hopping to see anything that might have been blessed enough to be anywhere near the prophet. Once she found what she sought her heart stopped. Inside were two items one a medal acknowledging her as now being a Confessor-general. The other a note written in the handwriting of Kane himself.

Lunimaria read the note carefully basking in the seeming light of the paper, awing over every word, the perfection that had touched this page. "S-So I am to relocate to division 12 of the Black Hand and leave the city to you?" Lunimaria affirmed.

"Yes, well leave the cities destruction to me that is. From the beginning Kane wanted the city to fall. Fall so the enemy could fill it with their infidel troops so we might rain destruction down upon them. They are about to learn why GDI feared the word 'specter'." Gregory Slavic declared while dramatically taking the command throne. "On my command order all but the forces around the obelisk of light to retreat out of the city."

*****

At a distant star, tan colored ships floated around a single planet waiting for their moment. The ships were tiny compared to many imperial warships, however to the people who created them they were massive symbols of their will and determination. Energy cannons the likes of which there we're none comparable. On the sides of these small but mighty transports the golden bird of prey shined.

In the lead of these ships sat the commander of the force, a collection from the world's greatest military sub-factions. Jerico Ashta sat in his high command chair awaiting preparations for the operation known as 'counter-invasion' the retaking of what was stolen from the world. "com-officer, open a direct line to all ships, order their captains to play this message through their ship loud speakers. " Jerico ordered.

"yessir." The man quickly replied before opening the line.

"Well boys, the time has finally come. This world is coming towards it's end, the threat we've been cowering from has almost consumed all of our living space. Our entire species is almost eradicated save for fanatics who sacrifice themselves to a man who will see his entire race burn just to see the spectacle. Not that I really care about those who'd run from reality, but they have something of ours and we want it back, in fact the whole of the human race needs what they have stolen that we now need to go out and bring it back. We need to reach out into the depths of space itself to find what we are looking for. Hmmm, space…what did they call it?" Jerico laughed, looking at his bridge crew. "The final frontier, the last threshold. And as a very famous fictional character once said, 'mister Sodo, warp speed on my mark…"

*****

"Lord! Artillery is in position; the center of the city is within firing range!" a vox-officer announced.

Lord Solar Abraham Chesknov, smiled and looked to the inquisitor and interrogator at his side. "My friend, is it time I play my music, the sound of war. Is it with the permission of the inquisition I earnestly begin my assault against this world?" the old Lord Solar asked, his voice dark yet pleading.

The inquisitor sat back in the seat provided for him, he closed his eye and sat for a long time. His breath slow, a feeling of hesitation filtered out from him. Enough so that Borus feared what his master might say. "Titonus? S-sir…" but Borus was cut off.

Quickly opening his eye, leaning forward in his seat with a sadistic smile Titonus looked at his friend. "Yes, play the song of war…let it ring throughout this planet so that all will know the emperor's wrath!"

Abraham then began to laugh himself. "You heard what the inquisition has said, Artillery on my mark…!"

*****

"Sergeant! What the hell do you think you are doing? We've lost ten men, one of them being Butch, our unit's only medic. Well are you even going to tell command that we don't have a medic." One of the men complained to the unit sergeant while she sat back in a chair with a cigar in her mouth.

"Why bother, they won't send us one in time. So I've got a better idea, new boy!" the sergeant called grabbing Anthony's attention. "You are our new medic." Sheena abruptly told the young soldier.

"W-what, m-me the m-medic…b-but sergeant I don't have…" Anthony began before Sheena glared through her shades at him, swiftly shutting up any man before they could join him.

"Don't be a pansy; does the sight of blood scare you that much? And about training, I'm from the emperor damned 181st that means I've got more medical experience than any medic here! I've patched myself up as my own guts were on the verge falling out, and then I patched up the man next to me. I think I can teach you…however I do realize that you are one pathetic excuse for a man but I would still expect even you capable of learning." Sheena informed the men, while thoroughly insulting Anthony.

Anthony quickly opened his mouth to make a retort to the sergeant's insult but she quickly lifted her left hand raising her index finger stopping him. She then raised her right hand all five of her fingers fully extended.

Five…

And then she lowered her thumb into her palm.

Four…

Her pinky was next to follow.

Three…

Her ring finger.

Two…

Her middle finger slowly followed after that.

One…

*****

At several different points across the galaxy leaders from different sides smiled in anticipation. The tasted of victory, the taste of their enemies blood, the taste of war upon their lips.

…zero…

"…engage!"

*****

Sheena then waved her fingers in the air as if she were conducing music while a sudden roaring became audible throughout the city. Immediately all the men turned their attention to the source of the roar. It was absolutely incredible, the never ceasing sound it was as if thousands of guns were being fired again and again. If they had been able to see they would have been astounded at the sheer amount of artillery being fired at a single target.

As the men all stared towards the incredible noise and few flashing lights in the distance Anthony glanced at his C.O. whom was sitting in her chair waving her finders as if conducting music humming to the tune of 'hial to the emperor' (Batavian's ninth).

_H-hial t-to the emperor? T-that accursed song, the one known to pilots of this sector as-as 'the imperial jackboot?...t-this is the imperial jackboot? _Anthony trembled as the woman continued to hum cheerfully to herself. _But-but how does my sergeant know about the song pilots most hate to hear?_

*****

"hahaha…by the prophet these enemies are the most pathetic excuse for an army I have ever seen! The imperium invincible, the imperium unstoppable, HA! More like we're the imperium, please massacre us!" a confessor smirked looking at the ruined street, filled with the ruined bodies of imperial guardsmen and destroyed Leman Russ tanks.

"Truth!" shouted a militant from behind.

"Death to the imperium let it give way to our light!" another declared.

The militants continued to laugh and celebrate several days' worth of slaughter and victory in the name of Kane.

"Sir there is some chatter on the radio I think you should here!" a third militant called to the confessor. The confessor quickly marched to the radio in question and lifted a listening piece to his ear.

"M-music…who would be playing music like that over the radio?" he asked as hial to the emperor played through the speaker of the radio. That is when their world turned to hell.

The light of the sun was suddenly stripped from them as hundreds of thousands of shells stalled in mid air between their intended victims and it's gentle light. All the militants bellow could do is watch in awe as darkness consumed them only to replaced with the incredible light of their deaths. Shell after shell landed among them as the panicked and sought shelter from their falling doom.

*****

Far from the doom and destruction but now in the shadow filled darkness created by the doom of the militant forces around the once great obelisk of light an imperial guard commander hung suspended over the edge of a six story building by a invisible blade, his killer only visible due to the light of the fires reflecting off his stealth armor. Then as the dying guardsman hoped his painful death was quickly ended as his killer allowed his body to plummet to its doom.

"was allowing him to die so quickly necessary brother, after all, all who defy the prophet deserve only the most painful of ends. "

"But look at it, the light, this is it, not the light of the truth, not the light of tiberian, but instead this is the light of our intent, this is the spark of the first embers of the conflagration. Today we watch as his will is done."

"However there is still much more to do."

"Then let us do it."

*****

"S-sir what is this music?" Borus asked as strange music played over the ship intercom.

"Why hial to the emperor. The only song fitting to let our enemies hear before they die, so they know who they died for." Titonus replied as Borus nervously looked about the bridge of the imperial battleship.

"b-but why play a song…a song like this?" after Borus asked this Lord Solar Abraham Chesknov turned in his command throne and laughed.

"Why boy. Tradition, this song has been part of a tradition that dates back as far back as our domination of this sector. So of course why not play it? But don't worry 'the imperial jackboot' is soon coming to an end."

*****

Then the roar stopped, while the rest of the unit watched as the sky turned dark with the dust kicked up by the now flashing thousands of explosions Anthony watched his Sergeant. Who had stopped waving her fingers and had placed her hands under her chin. "And that gentlemen is the imperial jackboot."

*****

The dust had settled, nothing remained, nothing save for a single radio from a soldiers head set through it a particular song played and then the song ended, leaving only the sound of small fires behind.

*****

"hahhahahhahaa! D-did you see that! Wow did you see that all those souls, all of them in an instant. Oh I only wish I had been able to do that, to take them all with my hands. It would have been so delicious!" Tadench declared to the nearest Deamon, who simply went on doing as it's feeble mind told it to do.

"errr…sooooo boring! Nothing to do but watch wait for those brutes to arrive, wait for everyone to arrive. Agh, why can't mortals move faster?"

*****

Inside his command chamber the young Slavic watched as the central line for the defense of the city was annihilated in a instant. "so it's finally here, the moment I've waited for. Now Imperials fear us!"

*****

In his throne, watching from a safe distance Chesknov finished laughing. "now let these heretics know that the emperor's followers will never forgive them! Now let them fear the sound of our boot!"

*****

"So mortals, who will it be first? Come now, do you not see the divine comedy that you are playing? This is a game between two players and you are merely the pieces. Nod for Kane, and ironically enough the imperium for myself and the god's of chaos!"

A/N sorry for a late upload…I get whimsical at times.


	10. Sacrifice

**Sacrifice**

Sitting in his command throne Lord Solar Chesknov looked at the tactical display presented before him. The city was almost completely in imperial control, only small pockets of resistance remained and the growing flood of imperial troops would soon cause the city to burst with the might of the unstoppable imperial guard.

"I just realized something." The old lord said aloud to his bridge crew.

"w-what is it m-my lord?" one brave crewman asked.

"I don't know what this place is even named."

"t-the cities name i-is displayed on the upper right of your display my lord." The man said bowing low.

Chesknov looked at the name of the city and pouted. "what a disgusting name rename it! This city only continues to exist for the tactical purposes of the guard and other forces of our glorious imperium. From this point on we refer to it as city one.

"Yes my lord."

Slightly hidden in the entrance to the command deck Titonus leaned against the doorway and chuckled to himself. "was the original name so bad, after all if you translate it from it's original language, English, I believe they called it the name means 'sacrifice'."

* * * * *

"Data from the network has arrived; enemy forces are confirmed to hold 98.8% of the city with slowly shrinking pockets of our resistance holding the rest. Shadow forces have all disappeared and have not engaged in combat against the enemy. Enemy hourly troop deployment rate has leapt up to 900% of original rates. Basic fortification procedures are being enacted to secure the city." A technician told Slavic from his position in front of a red glowing screen.

On his command pulpit Slavic was board, the shadows covered his eyes, the frown on his square jaw, showing how unhappy he was, and with his head resting on his first one would question if he was even awake.

"How pathetic. All I ever heard of this imperium was how great its army was, how elite its marines were, how they had countless warriors, warriors who were so superior to any man and could easily survive a cannon shell. Now I see that GDI was more advanced when it came to actual troop management and armament than these weak excuses. Such a textbook use of force do these men not realize that they face the children of Kane?"

The statement from their commander caught many of the men off guard. They had never fought this GDI compared to men like him they were recent converts, children, was GDI truly as powerful as these men boast.

"Are the vertigo squadrons ready? Once they launch have the specters launch the opening barrage. Then follow up with stage two. Truly pathetic, you never even took time to learn your enemies' language. Otherwise you gothic speaking fools would have known that this was a sacrifice!"

* * * * *

"S-Sergeant!" Anthony shouted. "hay stop move you idiots, I was here first…stop…your in my damn way!" he continued to shout shoving his way through a street filled with imperial guardsmen all relaxed and leisurely walking down the street. "S-Sergeant! Will you get back here! Sergeant." _God, why doesn't she notice me, every other freaking person on this street wants to kill me because my shouting and she presses forward as if she doesn't even notice I'm here! God-emperor, Lurral could one of you help me. Oh, and Lurral wherever you are I pray that you can see what I help to do, look I liberated this city for you now I guess you might come back and we can see each other again. _

Anthony pressed forward more so through the crowd. "Private Chesknov, even though you are our unit's medic and there is still much more for me to teach you. I still can not forgive you for pestering me with your presence. So unless you have something important to ask…"

"The imperial jackboot."

"What?"

"Tell me where did you learn the 'other' name to that song?" the sergeant frowned at the question.

"And how do you…"

"I was once a pilot; I've experienced 'the jackboot' but how about you? I don't recall you telling the unit you were once a pilot, nor do I recall you mentioning anything to do with any airlifts out of a world during exterminadus." Anthony challenged.

"Do you intent to challenge the experiences of a veteran soldier…how pathetic!" Sheena growled in the way a woman scorned could, before slapping Anthony. "I've fought all my life for the emperor! Every moment of it right up to…right up to the end. And I'll keep fighting even after my life ends, this life and any other 'life' the emperor gives me will be spent in his service."

"No mam, but I simply wish to know…"

"I said do not challenge a veteran! " Sheena shouted at the soldier.

"Yes mam!"

"Good you little shit! Now go…" however sheena's order was drowned out by sirens wailing in the far distance. Causing Sheena to turn in spot and glare into the distance. "What in hell, that's outside the city."

* * * * *

"M-M-My lord there are reports of many laud noises coming from outside city 1 but our scouts report no enemy forces detected!" a crewman reported.

"What? What the hell do those heretics think they are doing?...wait such stealth damn it is it those blasted eldar!"

Titonus began to laugh to himself from behind his long time friend. "well it seems that you don't understand the nature of our enemy. It seems that even I have underestimated them. 'sacrifice' so brilliant, I thought they were doing a deamon summoning but it seems that instead they are more intent on removing our forces from their world."

* * * * *

Gregory Slavic, one of Kane's chosen commanders, a warrior of Nod and tactical leader sat forward and laughed. "One last touch and it will be truly fitting of the prophet's teachings." With that he pressed a button on his command chair which launched a specially modified jamming missile. "NOW LEVEL 'SACRIFICE' LEAVE NOTHING, LET NOTHING LIVE, LET NO ENEMY OF THE BROTHERHOOD LIVE. FOR THE TECHNOLOGY OF PEACE!"

* * * * *

Chesknov spared a moment to glare at his old friend. "you may be an inquisitor but do not insult me." He threatened.

"Lord Solar remember my master has complete authority to question your actions." Borus reminded the lord solar while standing safely behind the more experienced inquisitor.

Titonus only giggled before making a mocking pout and smiling sadistically "awww. And here I thought that a commander kept his cool in situations like this."

"I do. We do not know what is out there, however if it's elder that is the worst I can think of. Remember you might be smart, but you are a brave fool. I on the other hand made it this far by being a rational coward, to be fearless makes you weak, to defeat your fear and acknowledge it that makes you brave." The Lord solar countered before the soft sound of music came through the bridge speakers. "who in the four hells of the warp…" the lord solar began before stopping as he observed his bridge crew desperately trying to re-establish any form of communication or even a visual of the city on the surface. Then the tune registered with the lord solar, it was 'hial to the emperor' also known as the 'imperial jackboot'.

* * * * *

"T-temple Prime… Luxodia's Temple Prime? I…I'm at Temple Prime!?!" Lunimaria declared in a shocked tone before throwing herself to the ground and worshiping both god and Kane. Her light dark hair that seemed almost red sweeping over the floor.

"Ah, child, at last the wanderer from the desert has been lead to the gates of the promised land." A famous voice called from nearby, causing Lunimaria's eyes to widen in awe, fear, wonder, and desire all at once.

"K-Kane."

* * * * *

They came from nowhere, just appeared in the sky and began dropping explosives into the city. Vertigo bombers, the stealth sky weapon's of Nod viciously attacked the thickest vehicle concentrations of the imperial guard. At other points of the city that guardsmen had for their barracks hidden explosives detonated killing men instantly. All of this only the lightning quick opening to the vicious rain of death to come. Soon artillery shells rained into the city destroying whatever they came into contact with. Specter the name of Nod's stealth artillery just thought of as a rumor started by captured militants now was the word the guardsmen cursed as each shell struck.

Cowering in the midst of it all was Anthony, hidden close to his sergeant they were separated from their unit by who knew how much city. All they knew was that the city was in danger and most likely this was just the opening of what was next to come. The real bloodshed was only just about to begin.

_Emperor above! Look at this, blasted heretics! What next?_ Next to Anthony a soldier with a vox-caster finally got the device to work enough to pick up reports and instructions from local command. "Repeat, enemy armored forces are advancing on the city outskirts reroute all forces to intercept." _Funny, very funny emperor what next an army of deamons…don't answer._

* * * * *

"Damn them…what will be my reaction?" Lord Solar Abraham Chesknov questioned aloud. Looking at the sudden destruction wrought on his forces by the hidden enemy.

"Wow, m-my master did you see…?" Borus began before Titonus cut him off.

"Why don't you simply turn to the ecclesiarch surely their forces whicht have been loitering around in this fleet should make a difference." Titonus suggested with a sly tone.

"Don't tease me, you always were looking down on me Titonus but this needs more. I will call them but right now dropping them in the city is foolish. We need to identify the enemy command and then we'll launch them. Until then I guess we'll just let our forces in the city slug it out with the enemy."

* * * * *

"move you fools! Move damn it! The emperor needs you to move!" Sheena shouted at Anthony and a group of soldiers who had taken cover to avoid the mass of artillery fire that was pounding the city.

_Easy for her to say, she doesn't care about living, hell she's practically invincible look at her artillery shells are landing all around us and yet she has yet to be scratched. Lucky insane, suicidal, gunho, sadistic bitch! _Anthony seethed in his mind, ready to verbally attack his sergeant.

"Oh, you all won't come out, well it's sooooo bad that I'm the highest ranking officer present…" Sheena began as a shell landed just behind her lighting up her figure with the cruel flames of war, making her seem quite terrifying. "I mean, if a explosive were to fall into the hole you are all hiding in my word would be the only one that anyone would listen to." She stated mater-of-factly as she pulled a krak grenade out of her belt, pulling the pin and holding the grenade just outside the entrance to where the men were hiding. Many of the men looked scared, others pissed with the sergeant. "look I guess that if I were to kill all of you here then it would be a mercy killing because it's obvious that you'll be cowering here as the women from the enemy forces find you and rape all of you weak little men." Sheena taunted, angering one man enough that he actually reached for his las-pistol only to have the weapon shot out of his hand by the sergeant.

"sergeant, what are you implying?" Anthony asked, grasping what his commanding officer was saying, if only just.

"I'm saying that this is just the warm up, they are intent on killing everything in this city, a mere artillery bombardment, an air raid, even these bombings won't satisfy them." With this the men paused in thought, if this was just the opening, then what was coming?

* * * * *

"So you understand what I require of you my daughter? Child of faith do you hold any doubts in yourself?" Kane asked the kneeling Lunimaria.

"no I would never doubt my prophet, you have given me my life and how can I question the purity of my existence. I will go forth with your protection, and I will create oceans of our enemies' blood. So much so that the kings of chaos would be jealous."

"Then go forth my child so that our endeavor may prosper into the future that I have foreseen."

* * * * *

The front that is what the edge of the city was now called. Here the fighting literally leveled buildings in seconds, artillery from both sides and now massed tanks battled for supremacy. While the guard should have far outnumbered the enemy the stealth tanks of Nod quickly killed their opponents in masses. Soon the city edge received a new name 'the husk' in recognition for the now thousands of ruined vehicle corpses.

"hells, everywhere we go in this blasted place is a new form of hell! First we fight enemies all around, next invisible guys and invincible towers now it's raining doom!" a soldier cried as Anthony hid next to him.

"don't worry it could be worse, you could be sitting next to the sergeant." Anthony joked with the near panicking soldier.

"she's the one who dragged us here. That insane bitch! She went out of her way to make sure we were on the front and doomed to die!" the man stated.

"yea but let's just hope that if anything worse than this happens we'll be at the back instead of here."

"What is wrong with you people? I mean it sounds to me like that sergeant infected you or something." Anthony just shrugged in reply before rising up to shoot another target, the 128th man so far. Overhead a bomber became visible dropping its payload before vanishing.

"Well if we give then enough time I think they'll find the enemy base."

* * * * *

"sir our observers have something."

"the enemy HQ?"

"no but we have located the enemy's airbase. It is well concealed and possibly invisible but we still have the main location pinpointed."

"I must say though…this certainly has turned into a war for geniuses."


	11. war for geniuses

**War for geniuses**

"if one were to remove all of one's soul, their purpose for fighting in the name of god rending themselves as nothing more than a creature of logic and thought incapable of understanding the righteousness of our acts against the infidels that are our enemy, then turn to me and ask 'why do you do this?' do any of you know what I would answer?" Slavic asked of his staff. "I would reply 'then tell me who in this galaxy is powerful? Who in this galaxy has power the likes of which is eternally far from easily overwhelmed? Is it the legendary races and gods whom are hidden away beyond my reach cowering in their small corners? Is it the empires that no longer exist? Is it tribal brutes that dwell in far corners worshiping imitation gods whom are just mimics of the real thing? Is it the corrupt whom have given up on their strength and sanity? The infant kingdom that dwells within reach and thinks itself strong? Or is it the master, the empire that only now is ageing that only now is starting to feel its years and is now near military prime, with more agents to protect it from infiltration now that it had centuries ago, the place where man pretends to be god, the place whose realms are so extensive it can suffer countless losses, and bring forth enemies the numbers of which are beyond count? That men is whom I wish to fight in the core of my being. Even if the prophet did not command it I would destroy such an empire for him! The being of logic would still question my motive so I will go further in explanation. I choose to fight the imperium of man of my own free will not only for the sake of god, but more so for the sake that they are strong! That they are the perfect enemy to destroy, master an enemy and you have gained one third of his strength master a million and you have become as strong as three hundred and fifty thousand men in of yourself. Beat a man at chess and you learn a trick defeat a general and gain intellect! These are the prizes of victory over the strong and we will take them!" Slavic declared as the images of battle played over the screen in front of him displaying the deaths of numerous men.

"Because after all in life its only the most intelligent and powerful that survive, god can only tip the balance."

* * * * *

"Demolition team move forward!" a commander shouted as more guardsmen charged forward only to be torn apart by the haze of fire moving between the two armies.

"emperor damn this place to fucking warp damned hell!" Anthony shouted throwing himself to the ground yet again to dodge yet another las-cannon shot. "I don't even know who the hell is shooting at me! Is it our own men is it the heretics I don't frigging care anymore!"

"Private shut the hell up for once!" the sergeant replied harshly.

"Well once you stop the shooting I will!" Anthony countered with an approving laugh from the remainder of the men who were currently with them.

"I already told you the plan is simple, we push forward, don't look back simply keep moving ahead and then break through the fighting. That'll mean we're surrounded by the enemy but fortunately for us they'll most likely ignore a small group like us."

"yea but where do we push to?" a soldier questioned.

"The enemy aircraft were coming from that direction." Sheena said pointing in the way that most of the enemy aircraft had been heading, towards the enemies airbase. "If we go this way we will eventually reach an enemy base but that also mean that if we move slowly enough…well we wont be court marshaled for cowardness." Sheena explained plainly.

* * * * *

"It's about time."

"Don't pester me."

"But in our old age it's all I can do."

"What is it with you and these age jokes, I know you as an inquisitor are ready to die any moment for the emperor but I've got a few more good moments before I give up on life." Abraham countered.

"It's age."

"Well at least I can get rid of those horrid women. Truly this campaign even this planet's battle would have been a much nicer experience if it weren't for those blasted sisters coming in to ensure that the ecclesiarch gains all the credit." Abraham complained.

"yes but how you are using them now seems more than payment enough, they are about to be sent into a situation they are not nearly prepared for…obviously because you want to see if they can be that single random factor that might destabilize the enemies command. Correct?" the inquisitor countered with a confident look on his features.

"You always could see through to the truth behind imperial tactics." The Lord Solar laughed.

"Well I always knew you didn't like those women, what was it used to say 'they don't look like a woman any man would ever want in bed'?"

"damn that memory of yours."

* * * * *

"…oh he who guides the light of the..." the Prioress's prayer was interrupted by a short thud as a sister of battle quickly stood at attention behind her.

"Yes sister?" the Canoness asked.

"Sister Delilah, they say the emperor has need of us to deliver justice upon heretic who use the wicked guiles of the enemies god of lies. They even feel that the enemy is beyond their capability to destroy perhaps due to the deamonic guiles of the enemy's unique armored forces." The sister reported.

"Understood sister, prepare to deliver our hate upon those who dare deem themselves as enemies of the emperor."

* * * * *

"Alright brothers get the next flight ready, on the double!" The crew captain shouted to his team as they continued with their service to the prophet by fueling and loading ammo onto the vertigo bombers that were constantly coming in.

"Brothers! Above!" one of the militants shouted pointing towards the sky as streaks of fire came falling towards the planet.

The leader of the militant ground crew gazed into the sky for the last moment of his existence as several thousand tons of force collided with his skull crushing him beneath the weight of the coming sisters of battle.

Immediately the airbase turned into a scene of devastating battle as the sisters used overwhelming firepower to assault fanatical militants. Within moments the bodies of Nod fanatics littered the battlefield. The sisters mercilessly and systematically invaded and destroyed the towers from which Nod's air superiority spawned.

Leading the sisters from the front, wielding her wide broadsword with the fervent intent of killing as many heretics as possible, the sister Canoness Delilah charged headlong into another cluster of militants ripping them apart within moments. "Tell the guard that we have dealt with these simple heretics and have found no sign of sorcery here." The sister instructed.

Bowing another sister went forward to do as the Canoness instructed, but after stepping away a las-round punched through the woman's head. "sisters!" the canoness shouted as the group closest to her prepared to fight the hidden enemy. Then hovering through the mists of battle the Nod venom scout craft slowly advanced raising higher as not to be shot by the sisters while spraying bullets and las-shots upon the ill equipped sisters.

"Sisters destroy the enemies of the emperor, burn the heretic! Cleanse those who have soiled themselves and become unclean in our lord's sight!" the Canoness shouted to the sisters around her.

"We have not the range sister!" one of the shouted in reply.

"Then gain higher ground, close the distance anyway possible! Follow the will of the emperor and kill those who stand against his infallible will!" The canoness then ordered.

* * * * *

They looked out into the stars, the sight was different. Not that they had never been to space, one of them actually had traveled up into orbit on a weakly basis. But this was the first time the stars we're not seen as from their home world.

"Amazing we are just one of these thousands…" one of them tried to say but the awe of the moment cut her short. The others nodded in agreement with her unfinished yet generally understood statement.

"To think that most of the fleet isn't given a view like this." The male counterpart to the woman who had spoken earlier laughed.

"if we were to wake them up we'd run out of oxygen within a few minutes." Another man behind the two who had spoken reminded them.

turning around Nathan Hope, the man who had spoken before, replied. "I'd gladly hold my breath."

"Well that is good sir, you suffocating for the men but we need that air down in the mech bay for the welding tools." The engineer behind him joked.

"Speaking of which we are only three weeks away aren't we? How are the division's babies coming along?" Nathan asked.

"We started on eight all terrain, multipurpose titan walkers from the talons, we also have your wolverine completed with some miner fine turning to do. We also completed one juggernaught and have started on another steal talon behemoth. Also we've completed on a fleet wide basis nearly sixty mammoth tanks and two mammoth mk two B's." the engineer reported.

"why do we even keep the mk two's I thought that tib war two proved that they we're simply pieces of crap, relics that only you stupid steel talon guys would like to show on a parade or two." The woman from before, Katherine Mual one of the lead field communication orchestrators of ZOCOM complained.

"you're sure quick to judge Katherine, problem is these are Mk two B's that mean that we Steal Talons got our much more capable hands on them and gave them the fine tuning that GDI regular forces seemed incapable to give these things could probably take out a M.A.R.V. in a head on confrontation." Nathan countered.

"Boast about you're expensive toys some other time." Katherine whined.

The sound of the door behind them opening caught the attention of everyone in the room and immediately they all snapped to full attention. "at ease, I simply wanted to inform everyone that we have detected a signal from our destination, looks like things are a little better than we hoped, seems Nod retreated to an inhabited word and whoever the locals are they seem to be fighting, or that's what we guessed based of the several explosions that match Nod tactical nukes signatures, seems like we'll have a race on our hands once we arrive, a race to see who'll kick Kane's ass first." The fleet commander Jerico Ashta informed the group.

* * * * *

"Sir full data compliment from the airfield has been completed, sir all vertigo bombers are no longer serviceable. Venom scout craft are now entering the two percent casualty rate, apparently the enemy are compensating for lack of range by climbing the tallest objects they can without fear of being shot or falling. At current attrition rate the enemy will have completely annihilated our airfield forces within one hour. Instructions?" a technician asked of Gregory Slavic, who simply leaned back in his seat with a smile.

"Simple, we give up."

"wha-s-sir?" the technician responded.

"Please the prophet could have had a complete victory already but he sees beyond what you see, he sees to the battle tomorrow which we his chosen elite see and far far beyond. Order the specter artillery to open fire with a full barrage, also I am abandoning rear command gather the shadows I wish to meet these sisters of battle once they destroy the airfield."

"Ay sir!"

* * * * *

"Emperor damn these warp fucked, crystal humping…" once again Anthony found that his newly acquired skill for cussing was drowned out by a far too close explosion.

"Private shut up and get moving we're only a few yards away!" Sheena growled dragging our poor Anthony several feet before nearly throwing him over a dirt bank and into safety.

"Why in hell do I have to fall for the crazy people!" Anthony whined as he coward for his life, with the hope that if he looked scared enough the militants might take pity on his situation.

* * * * *

In a dark chamber in the imperial fleet inquisitor Titonas Hond meet with the techpriest he had recently been corresponding with. "Well what are your findings?" he instantly demanded.

The techpriest though his form was mostly human shaped no longer had most of his organic body parts, his face looked more like a combination of a gasmask and high tech magnification equipment and the rest of his form was made up of various instruments. "it is like we had guessed they used the crystal from before to create nearly eighty percent of the materials used in the construction of their equipment, the Omnissiah will be pleased with my findings." The techpriest concluded slowly entering into a religious fervor and almost absentmindedly returning to his studies without regard of the inquisitor.

"And the two items in particular?"

"The first is exactly as you had guessed; using the strange crystal in a liquid form as a fuel source it creates a protective barrier that cancels out most energy, including warp energy, plasma and even the power weapons of Adeptus Astartes quality. However the second item is quite an interesting item it already uses many technologies that are available to more advance portions of the empire however it also is linked to a network with a machine spirit unlike what I have ever seen before. I have tried accessing the machine spirit to figure out a way to turn it against the enemy but it seems as though the spirit itself is actually aware of my attempts and countering every action I take. It is even using countermeasures that no machine spirit has used before. But I have confirmed that this spirit seems to be observing all the happenings recorded by every individual copy of the item you have given me, and perhaps this heretic spirit may be collecting data through other means as well." The Techpriest summarized, his evaluation of the mystery 'machine spirit' catching the inquisitor off guard.

"the enemy utilizes a machine spirit?"

* * * * *

"Child you will have LEGION at your disposal he shall help you adjust to your task." Kane told Lunimaria.

"y-yes my lord." Lunimaria gasped realizing what Kane was giving her.

"you shall have access to my greatest creation remember it is fully capable of serving both your needs and fulfilling it's purpose." Kane reminded her with his sly smile

* * * * *

Standing in the ruined fields that once was a fully capable airbase sister Delilah observed the now desolate, windblown landscape. Heretics did not even deserve a fate as kind as this. "sisters pray for the fallen, prepare to take the enemies cowardly leaders so we might hang their corpses for all there kin to see!" she then shouted to those who remained of her force.

"Who are you calling cowardly?" a voice called out from a space ahead of Delilah as a man suddenly came into existence before her. "my name is Gregory Slavic, I am the commander of the forces that are currently besieging your hard won city, though by now it's obvious that your forces have won this skirmish." Gregory introduced himself with a bow.

"Heretic!" Delilah roared stepping forward, only to stop as several heavily armed troopers simply phased into existence next to the militant leader.

Slowly drawing a black katana from a sheath on his side Gregory smiled. "I figured as a farewell gesture I would humor you with a quick battle of our own."

"Death to the heretic!" Delilah ordered as her sisters stepped forward bolters ready. Then one of them was beheaded as an enemy simply appeared before her sword drawn.

"Death from the shadows." Gregory smirked as he calmly stepped forward sword at his side, which caused the leader of the sisters to charge in a frenzy.

Immediately an pointblank battle of sudden slaughter took place as Nod shadow troopers appeared from nowhere, in line to fire at the sisters, on gliders above so that they could drop down upon the unprepared daughters of the emperor, or even immediately in front of the sisters in hope of being able to cut them open with their swords. Meanwhile the sisters fought back with incredible fury and determination killing every target they could find before an hidden enemy caught them unprepared and killed them.

Trapped in the middle of this maelstrom Delilah and Gregory battled. The sisters huge broadsword clashing again and again with the small katana of the calm Nod general. Many times Gregory dodged lethal blows and many more times he tried to strike the sister to only have his attacks stopped by her superior armor. "haha, for my first time in an actual sword fight this is quite entertaining!" Gregory laughed as he dodged another stroke from the battle sister.

"Do not mock the emperors justice!" Delilah raged.

"Forgive me, I certainly would hate for my opponent to lose focus and thus become unworthy." Gregory teased, which might have been an unwise decision as he felt his muscles strain to block yet another blow from the sister. Going for a uppercut Gregory tried to quickly end the fight realizing that his opponent for being a woman was far stronger than any man he'd ever faced. However as he attempted to slice her from groin to forehead her large broadsword caught his katana and forced the weapon out of his hand.

"Now I have you weak heretic!" Delilah shouted.

"Guess again." Gregory sighed as he pulled a package from his belt. Delilah trust her sword forward to impale the Nod leader as he threw forward the small package. The point of her powersword came into contact with the package and suddenly a large explosion engulfed the combat aria of the two leaders, ending the fight instantly. The lead sister of battle cut, bruised, bleeding on the ground and the Nod leader missing.


	12. sit rep

**Sit-rep**

"when I say left flank I mean hit them in the damned left flank!"

"roger!"

"keep the fire up!"

"roger!"

"alright CHARGE!"

Suddenly they hesitated; it was easy enough for Anthony to realize why they were, the sergeant of insanity ,as she was now known by the troops, was asking them to charge headlong into an enemy bunker. It was enough that they were already far behind enemy lines, running low on ammo, and surrounded but to charge into the thickest portion of the enemies defense…sergeant of insanity probably wasn't a title worthy of this woman's 'invincible followers of the emperor' ideology.

"If you don't fucking charge I'm going to play the role of commissar and kill you all right damn now for cowardness." Sheena threatened…that quickly got many of the men to leap over the wall and advance on the position, however they quickly found that they were divided between a fear of their sergeant and the enemies overwhelming guns. Anthony was not one of those many however, instead he watched as several of them were cut down by gun fire and plotted accordingly.

Leaning into one of the few men that was still next to him, Anthony grabbed a rifle grenade from the man who was now shivering under Sheena's lethal gaze. "I'll be taking that thank you." He mockingly said, as he loaded his rifle with the grenade and fired it indiscriminately at the enemy position. "hmmm, not quite right. Alright guys how about those of us who have guts enough show this crazy ass how we really do things." Anthony calmly teased the men, before there expressions paled more and he could feel the freezing cold of Sheena's glare.

Moving his head in slow pained jerks he faced his sergeant with a trembling smile. "ch-ch-charge I know…but if you lend me a second rifle grenade I won't just charge I'll take the whole position over there for you…d-deal."

"if you fuck this up, my single prayer to the emperor will be 'oh please bring Anthony Cheskov back…SO I CAN SCREW HIS FUCKING ASS OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL HE BEGS YOU TO KILL HIM PERSONALLY!" the sergeant roared at the now empty bladdered Anthony.

"y-yes." He nearly whimpered as he loaded the second rifle grenade and actually taking aim, fired. The grenade landed upon it's intended target much to Anthony's relief detonating upon a large store of fuel on the side of the enemies main bunker. Soon Anthony jumped out from cover using the flames to cover his advance. With several other soldiers by his side he charged the distracted enemy position as he ran las-beams and auto-gun fire flew around him. Many men soon found themselves unluckily cut down by fire but soon enough the unit was upon the bunker already seeking a way inside the enemy defenses.

Back at the point of cover that they had originated from Sheena smiled. "that boy really knows how to impress…I guess that's why…ah what the heck I need to get in a few kills or else the men might actually get a quarter of my score!" sheena decided before leaping from cover and using her las pistol to shoot a defender between the eyes.

* * * * *

Standing amongst the ruins of the bunker they had assaulted, the squad looked towards their next target the enemy air-field. Or what was once their next target. Now the airfield was completely ruined, they could see wrecked aircraft and bodies laying scattered across the devastated airstrips and the half demolished tower-landing pads that the heretics had used. And of to the side they could see a large force of the sisters of battle who had gathered together.

"By the emperor what happened here?" one of the men asked aloud seeing the many corpses and the grouped sisters who were tending to their wounded.

"Looks as though the sisters got more than they bargained for…a lot more." Sheena softly commented watching in awe as the sisters franticly applied medical treatment to their wounded losing another sister's life to the injuries she had sustained for every moment wasted. As the unit stared in awe of the aftermath of what was obviously a harsh battle they were soon startled by the sound of artillery cannons firing in the distance.

"Someone quick give me my binoculars!" Sheena demanded. Once one of the soldiers had handed her what she had requested Sheena gazed into the distant hillside. "sloppy." She soon commented with a smirk. "Get a vox to command the main bulk of the enemy artillery is approximately 6 kliks northwest of our current location.

"yes mam!" one of the soldiers said with a salute, before he went to the vox-caster equipment and began to relay the message.

Anthony stood solomly for a moment before he approached his Sergeant. "sir, should we offer aid to the sisters?" he asked in a formal tone.

"no."

"What? Why not!"

"Because they'll refuse."

* * * * *

"Lord Solar, reports have come in the enemy have been broken and their forces have been reduced to near inconsequenceal numbers. Their artillery has been found due to the heroic actions of a small force of the Ozzi 101st . However the sisters of battle report that the enemy commander is missing." Once of the deck hands reported.

"Looks like you've won another impressive victory for the imperium today Lord Solar." Inquisitor Titonus Hond said in a congratulatory manner as he stepped onto the bridge.

"No…this doesn't feel right I suspect that this is just the first few moves in a much, inexplicably so, larger conflict. One that is only bound to grow larger."

* * * * *

"Kane, the-the city of sacrifice has fallen completely into the hands of the enemy, Lord Slavic has yet to return and it appears that our forces there have completely been…"

"hush child, there is no need to worry. Remember that the beast who had come up from the earth was unchallenged by man and none could say that they were as powerful as the beast yet when the beast was in the height of its victory God opened up the floodgates of heaven's wrath and drove the beast and all of its followers away from existence. As prophesized in the book of revelations." Kane told the worried servant with a grin.

"when the end is near, and the great battle has begun I shall open up the way and our enemies shall cease to exist. The eye of god shall shine it's light upon the universe and all shall say behold this is man, created by god it has evolved to become his divine hand, the scalpel upon the face of existence which will carve away the impurities brought forth by heathens."

"y-yes I-I am enlightened by your infinite wisdom great one." The servant whimpered before quickly leaving to tell others of the great message he had heard.

Once the servent was gone Kane turned to the nearest holographic projector. "this is only the beginning LEGION, you must achieve all of my objectives if my plan for ascension is to come into fruition. Soon all of humanity shall bow and know the great light that is tiberian and those who refuse to understand the destiny of this race shall know nothing but the flames of the great conflagration."

* * * * *

"Listen Deamon, we have had enough of waiting and listening to the likes of you. If you do not give us an opportunity to attack…!" Kegoth the chaos lord roared at Tadench with no fear of the deamon before him.

"I have told you before I am saving you for the moment when victory is assured. If you succeed in the mission I have gave you then all of chaos each god, every lord's desire will be easily attained. None will stop us we only need wait for the next few players in my plan which was handed to me by the gods themselves. You only need curse the brutish green ones and the other humans for their incompetence in warp travel."

"Fine, but if I see an opening to accomplish my task without any more of your interference I will take it and then all the glory will belong to me!"

* * * * *

"!"

"waaagh! WAaaaGH! WAAAAAAAAAGH!" the cheers spread throughout the space hulk as it plummeted towards its destination. Soon its ocupents would have the destruction they sought, only a matter of time before their WAAAGH began.

* * * * *

"but I still don't understand first we're in this city being blasted by the enemy then more enemies are trying to blow our friggin heads off now we're marching through this barren waste dodging these creepy crystals that eat you, monsters that these crystals create by fucking with your body, and emperor alone knows how many land mines. All while having these blasted sisters at our back yelling at us to go faster!" Anthony demanded of his sergeant.

"I don't quite understand myself but apparently the sisters suffered greatly in the last battle and need us to take the bulk of the enemies force. Essentially we are their shield until we find the enemies main force then the sisters will take over…of course in reality it just means that the sisters are going to hang back and then take the glory once we are all half dead." Sheena explained in the manner that only the war-crazed Sergeant could.

"Yes but why in hell has it got to be us?" another soldier demanded.

"Because we, the Ozzi 101st, were the only ones to witness the sisters in such a shameful position, the sisters don't want anyone else to even possibly know how simple heretics could devastate them so. " Sheena continued her black shades completely concealing her true expression.

"but still for the past few weeks this has been annoying as hell. This slow advance fighting these small suicide parties that always kill twice as many of us as we do of them simply because they set traps for us." The soldiers continued to complain.

"if we could find their main temple then a round or two from space could level the entire building and most likely the surrounding aria. Once we find that main temple we'll blast it to hell and send this entire cult to hell with it, right?" one of the men enthusiastically cheered.

"I guess that's the core of the problem, if we could find it…everything with these bastards is invisible, invisible, invisible. Why can't they put up an honorable fight?" Anthony whined.

"I, have to agree." Sheena commented silently.

* * * * *

"confessor general…I-I can't believe that the prophet would truly have such faith in me when I myself do not…however he truly is all knowing as the they say he knows all about me including my curse…I will please him no matter the cost." Lunimaria decided to herself, whilst gazing upon her new uniform. The entire armor every detail had been custom made for her, no restrictions to her movements, easy drawing of her twin sabers, and numerous pouches for the various secondary weapons she fancied.

After spending more time gazing she sighed. "by why the black hand…surely I am too…too…too un-like them to confidently command them. The only similarity between myself and them is our faith. "

"Confessor-general the prophet has sent forth a commandment; we are to march forward upon his selected enemy. He says that he has chosen them to test you personally. Their force appears to be a massing of three regiments and the armored women who destroyed our air forces at 'sacrifice'." A young priest in training reported.

"Thank-you, gather the others we march forward now."

"yes mam."

"where shall the battle take place?"

"mam?"

"where are they?"

"the barrens gorge."

"so it shall be the battle of barren gorge in which I re-display my faith in him."


End file.
